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  “Please don’t.”

  “We won’t. But that’s what we do with any of these after-event events we leave behind. You can’t be forced to do anything that’s truly durable. You won’t get married or quit your job or say something terrible to your boss.”

  “Thank you for telling me.”

  “And you asked for this, besides,” Evie added. “We promised you an Alteration, and this is what you asked for, or we wouldn’t have done it.”

  “Got it. I’m not complaining.”

  “We’re making sure you have the full picture. Selena, we play all sorts of mind games with the participants. It’s an Altered Event, after all. But they’re all during the event, or sometimes a leftover, like this. If you wanted a better attitude at work, you would go to a psychotherapist. If you have a better attitude now, it might be due to the experiences, and due to people like Ida being fired, but it’s not because we Altered you for it.”

  “What about Gail?”

  The two exchanged a look, and then Joy said, “We don’t really remember her details, but if she’s only gay with you, then it’s because she asked for it. And there’s probably a key to ending it for her, but we don’t know what it is.”

  “She could contact our office,” Evie said. “If someone asks, we’ll tell them.”

  “It’s possible but exceedingly unlikely that you asked for more mind games and we don’t know about them. But I doubt it,” Joy finished.

  I nodded and gestured to a nearby bench. We moved to it and sat down. We sat quietly for a minute. “I have dreams. And daydreams.”

  “Of?”

  “More games. Not… um. Not more triggers. Just… Going back.”

  “Ah,” Evie said. “And you’re wondering…”

  “Yeah.”

  “All right,” Joy said. “First, there are companies who engage in some pretty shady practices. It was worse when the industry was new.”

  “Rightfully so, Congress got involved,” Evie continued. “Making laws that we can’t screw with people’s brains doesn’t help if people are hard to catch, and frankly, I don’t think it would be even possible to catch us, if we tried.”

  “For some values of ‘we’,” Joy inserted.

  “Right,” Evie agreed. “And while Congress has a lot of idiots, they aren’t all idiots.”

  “I suppose they aren’t.”

  “And so the laws aren’t only about what we’re allowed to do, but also about our corporate structure, and how much money we’re allowed to make.”

  “I don’t think I knew that.”

  “We can grow, but CEO compensation and corporate profits are capped. And Altered Events hit all those caps seven years ago.”

  “There’s still some incentive for corruption,” Joy said. “All the top people in the company are capped, and there’s significant oversight besides. The top people at our existing centers are capped as well. We’re not.”

  “And we can grow. We can build more centers, and if we do, it opens a number of positions that pay more. However, we’re not qualified for those positions, so the incentive would either be for someone who was qualified, or for someone doing a favor for people who were qualified.”

  “Or kickbacks,” Joy said. “But you wouldn’t believe how closely our finances are monitored. We could take in some petty cash and get away with it, but not enough to make a real difference to our lives, and certainly not enough to accept the risk.”

  “In other words,” I replied, “while there is some incentive to cheat, it’s probably not worth it.”

  “If you want one of the new openings, then maybe,” she said. “But you’d have to hide it. I don’t think anyone could cheat with enough people to build much demand for more centers.”

  “There are places that cheat,” Evie said. “And there are people whose methods aren’t as clean as others. Within the industry, they have poor reputations.”

  I nodded. “Let’s check out the ancient Greek goddesses.”

  “Sure.”

  We wandered. It was while looking at a statue of Artemis that I said, “I’ve been having thoughts.”

  “So you said. Such as?”

  “Well, there’s that laser tag place.”

  “Ah,” Evie replied. “Which one?”

  “I don’t know if it’s that specific, but I end up playing strip laser tag.”

  She laughed. “We did that oh, three weeks ago.”

  “Five,” Joy corrected.

  “Fine. Five.”

  “The two of you?”

  “It was sort of a favor,” she said. “There was a group that wanted to come in and play, but they didn’t have enough people for good games. The community is kind of small.”

  “Not really,” Joy said. “The women in the community make a small community.”

  “Oh. Yeah,” Evie said. “But we only play at woman-owned places, and there are a few we avoid.”

  “I’ve thought about that, sometimes with the two of you, sometimes with a few people from work, sometimes with complete strangers. Sometimes I win; sometimes I lose.”

  They both grinned. “Sure,” Joy said. “We didn’t do that. That’s all you. I swear.”

  “And I think about other games. Some are pretty tame, but most of them aren’t.”

  “That’s all you, Selena,” Evie assured me.

  “So, how did you do?”

  “We rotated teams,” Evie said. “After each game.”

  “And?”

  “And Joy spent the last several games totally naked.”

  I laughed. “And you?”

  “Undies and bra.”

  “Were there… implications?”

  “Well, she and I had a private agreement,” Evie continued. “There were playful implications, but nothing that creative.”

  “Tell me.”

  “I got spanked,” Joy said. “Once I was out of clothing to give up.”

  “And she loved it.”

  “I did not.”

  She put on a voice. “’Yes! Yes!’ after each swat.”

  “I did not!”

  “Joy,” Evie said, her tone no longer playful. “Yes, you did.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Totally.”

  “No one else lost all her clothing?” I asked.

  “Sure,” Joy said. “But I was the only one who got spanked.” Then she frowned. “That one woman got called names.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Slut,” Joy said. “And…”

  “Cunt,” Evie said. She made a face. “I don’t know why anyone would want to be called names like that.”

  “Like I asked to be spanked?”

  “You must have offered, because Laser Brains doesn’t do anything to you that you don’t agree to.”

  “I don’t remember offering.”

  “Oh, please,” Evie said. “You know how it works.”

  “Yeah.”

  Evie turned to me. “If I were running it, I’d have a list, and people would pick. But maybe someone there is just an asshole. Maybe there was some private agreement. Maybe someone was bribed. I don’t know. But if they pulled that shit on us, there would be a chat afterwards. We don’t interfere when it’s someone else, because it’s not our business, and we don’t know the details. Maybe that woman wanted to be called names, or maybe something else was going on. We don’t know and didn’t ask.”

  “Gotcha.”

  “So, what else? That one woman had to talk in baby talk once she ran out of clothes.”

  “That was really kind of annoying. It was funny at first, but it got old pretty fast. But that other woman was really funny.”

  “Her punishment was tame,” Evie told me. “She had to use some sort of honorific when addressing anyone still wearing any clothing.”

  “And she couldn’t avoid it, either,” Joy added. “They made her compliment people for good play.”

  “She became almost a chatty Cathy,” Evie said. “And she had to say someth
ing like, ‘Lady Evie, you should play defense.’ But she kept coming up with new honorifics.”

  “She lost her clothes before I did, and she called me Your Honor Joy.”

  “That’s cute.”

  “I didn’t hear her double up, but I’m sure she did. It was funny, once I figured out she was doing it. Who can think of new titles that fast?”

  “That’s pretty good.”

  “We get invitations like that, oh, five or six times a year,” Evie said. “We don’t get paid, but we get to play for free as part of the fee the group is paying.”

  “If they need warm bodies,” I said. “You could call me.”

  “We will,” Joy promised. “Selena, you sounded upset on the phone last night, and you seemed upset earlier, too. I don’t think we’ve really addressed it.”

  “I just keep thinking… I don’t know what to make of it.”

  “It’s just a rich fantasy life,” she said with a laugh. “Unless you’ve visited a less reputable locale.”

  “I haven’t, not that I’m aware.”

  “No odd gaps in your memory?”

  “No.”

  “We didn’t do it. For one thing, you haven’t described any events that we even run. “

  “There are others,” I said. “In one, I think about if Tara decided to make this an annual event. In another, I’m at another company’s event, and I spend the entire dream wondering what I’m doing there, because I don’t even work there.”

  “You haven’t indulged?”

  “No. I’ve been afraid.”

  “Because you think we made you a junkie?”

  “Because I don’t know which places are safe.”

  “I think, Joy,” said Evie, “We’ve finally hit the real reason she called us.”

  “I’m hurt, Evie,” Joy replied, “That she’s not here to ask us to play with her.”

  “The night is young,” Evie suggested.

  “Is this where I admit I took a Lyft?”

  They both laughed. “She is here to play,” Joy declared.

  “You may both use my trigger,” I said. “But if you use it tonight, it’s only until morning, because I have to work tomorrow.”

  “We should finish this conversation first,” Evia said. “What else?”

  “Small groups,” I said. “God, I feel stupid.”

  They both laughed. “No, you shouldn’t. Who is in these groups?”

  “You two. Tara, Gail, and Nan. Sometimes Mary.”

  “Who is Mary?”

  “Someone from work.” I pulled out my phone and found a photo.

  “She’s cute. Selena, is this compulsive? You really can’t stop thinking about it?”

  “No,” I said. “Just sort of fixated. I’ve never been like this. You guys sort of messed with me a lot.”

  “Too much?” Evie asked, her tone gentle.

  “No. Just… I’ve never really been wild, you know? I’ve always been very…”

  “Self-controlled.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are we here because you want us to help you make it stop?”

  “No. I don’t want to go crazy. But I don’t know who to trust.”

  “And you came to us?”

  “Well, I didn’t know who else I could talk to.” Then I grinned. “And I want you to use my trigger.”

  They both laughed again. “You aren’t going home tonight,” Evie said. “Okay. We can give you a list of the places we like.”

  “Or…” Joy said.

  “Or?” I asked.

  “Well, you said you wanted group events,” she said. “We can make that happen.”

  “I think I’d like that.”

  “There’s The Club,” Evie said. Yes, it felt like she capitalized the letters.

  “They’re pretty hard core,” Joy countered. “She’s not saying she wants hard core.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “The Club. That’s what they call themselves. They rotate, but only to the places that allow you to leave while still Altered.”

  “They play different games,” Evie added. “Usually six hours of events. Lots of different games. Some of them are pretty wild. You earn points in every game, but at the end, the bottom quarter are Altered, and then the others compete to decide who you belong to.”

  “That doesn’t sound that wild.”

  “Well, if you’re in that quarter, you have no say in who catches you.”

  “So one fourth become pets, one fourth become pet owners, and the rest go home empty-handed?”

  “No. You can also be caught in the last game,” Evie said. “You leave either as a pet or a pet owner. Sometimes someone wins more than one pet.”

  “Have you two done it?”

  “Yeah, but we’re more daring than I think you are,” Joy said.

  “That doesn’t sound like what I want,” I said.

  “But you’d like some group events, more than six people?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I tell you what,” Evie said. “You recruit, and we’ll make events happen. We’ve got friends, people you’d like, so we can fill out the numbers. A few women from The Club are pretty cool.”

  “Sure, but I think I’d like smaller sometimes, too.”

  “We can do that.” She smiled. “Ready?”

  “Selena-pet obeys her lady,” Joy said before Evie could.

  I felt the compulsion, but it was my choice. I smiled. “Until morning.” The compulsion settled in, and I would have knelt to her if she hadn’t said, “Stand up.”

  We stood, and she took my arm. “Come, my pet.”

  I was her pet, and I smiled.

  Evie stepped up on Joy’s other side, and we made our way from the museum. Outside, she said, “Tell her to obey me, too.”

  “We’ll see,” Joy replied.

  Evie whispered into Joy’s ear. I didn’t hear what she said, but Joy stiffened and pulled us to a stop. “Not fair!” she complained. “Until morning.”

  Evie gave a little cackle. “My pet, tell your pet to obey me.”

  “Selena-pet,” Joy said. “Obey Evie.”

  “Yes, Lady Joy.”

  “Selena,” Evie said. “You will call her Joy-pet. You will call me Lady Evie.”

  “Yes, Lady Evie.”

  “Good. Both of you, come.”

  Their car wasn’t far. Evie ordered both of us into the back seat, then told us to buckle our seatbelts and sit quietly. She waited until we were both settled before climbing into the driver’s seat, but then she turned around and looked at us, grinning. “This was our agreement,” she told me. “For losing the last time. I had two pieces of clothing left, but she was out with 3 games left, so she owes me five weeks of accepting her trigger. There are only a few days left.” She shifted her gaze. “You had to know I was going to do that to you.” Joy didn’t reply. “The two of you may hold hands, if you like.”

  Joy reached over and took my hand. I smiled at her. I understood what was going on. The compulsion didn’t eliminate that. I belonged to Joy until morning. But I also understood she belonged to Evie. So I watched Joy, and she watched Evie.

  Evie drove us home.

  * * * *

  We played. At first, Evie asked us to pamper her, but pampering her turned into sex, which didn’t bother me at all.

  Evie was… sweet. Yes, that’s how I’d put it. She was sweet. Oh, she took her pleasures, but she also not only let Joy and me offer pleasure to each other, but she enjoyed helping, and so there was a lot of touching and kissing and tasting.

  Mmm.

  Just thinking about it brings a smile to my face.

  Discounting the unbending obedience, it wasn’t kinky. It was nice. Sweet. Lovely. They were both so lovely.

  Eventually, we slept.

  In the morning, the compulsion wore off, and so I woke in a tangle of arms and legs and unkempt hair and smiles and remaining bliss. I found myself looking at Joy, smiling, both of us smiling. “Please tell me we’re doin
g this again,” she whispered.

  “I do hope so,” I said. I sighed. “I wish I didn’t have to go.”

  “We can do longer next time,” she replied. Then she reached out and caressed my cheek. I kissed the palm but then closed my eyes.

  I lay like that for a minute, but then I opened my eyes. From Joy’s other side, Evie was watching me, and they were both smiling. “Thank you,” I whispered.

  “Before you go, answer a question. Have you ever done any truly tame games?”

  “Altered reality games?” I prompted. “No. I’m a little surprised a work team building event turned as odd as it did.”

  “When they are unisex, they can get rowdy,” Evie explained. “Laser Brains has a family-friendly open event once a month. The next time is Saturday, ten until six. I think you should come with us.”

  “Okay.”

  “Bring friends, if you want. It’s fully family-friendly, and they won’t enforce side wagers, but it’s still fun.”

  “Do we need reservations?”

  “No, but it helps. I’ll reserve for the three of us plus three more, but we’ll need to confirm or cancel those spots by Tuesday. If you find more, we can expand the invitation.”

  “I’ll call Monday night at the latest.”

  “Perfect.”

  “I have to go. Please tell me we’ll do this again.”

  “Definitely,” she replied.

  Tame

  I sat down in Mary’s cube. She rotated to me and smiled. “Hey.”

  “So. What are you doing next Saturday?”

  “I don’t know. What am I doing next Saturday?”

  I told her about Laser Brains. She laughed. “Aren’t you the one who hated the idea worse than I did?”

  “That was then.”

  “Who else are you inviting?”

  “Nan, Gail, and Tara. I started with you. Do you want me to trim the list?”

  “No. Tara?”

  “Sure. Why not.”

  “No idea. Do you think she’ll come?”

  “I guess we’ll see.”

  “I think it will be fun.”

  “Great. I’ll put you down as a definite ‘yes’.”

  * * * *

  Nan was next. I was barely into the explanation before she said, “Sure.”

  “I haven’t even finished telling you.”

  “I’ve been,” she said.

  “With your family.”

  She snorted. “They’re way too conservative for something like that. No, no. One of the guys they made me go out with. It was fun. He’s not any more interested in me than I am in him, but we do something together once in a while to keep our families off our backs.”