The Neighborhood: Part 18 [MF][F][Exh][Mdom][Mast][MC][SciFi]

**The Neighborhood: Part 18 [MF][F][Exh][Mdom][Mast][MC][SciFi]**

**A brief recap:** Colin Turner was a middling sad-sack with a failing marriage, who stumbled into a dream job based on some research he wrote years ago. He took a job with Fenris, a company with its own little enclave in Wolfsburg, CA, and its own peculiar work ethics. Fortunately, he had the sly and sexy Janelle, his hiring advisor, to act as his guide as he acclimated. He moved into a large house in the neighborhood with his wife Alison, and becomes involved in a company project involving wristbands that can alter behavior, within limits, based on keywords or phrases. Over time, Colin learned to enjoy his newfound freedom, his expanding desires, and to leverage the behavioral technology he has near-unfettered access to, to live out his fantasies. His sister-in-law, Stella, recently moved in, and after a little lip service from Janelle, will work in his office. Colin and Alison had a wild night at a not-as-retired-as-thought executive’s country estate, but not before Colin learned his future with Fenris wasn’t as solid as he thought.

—-

**Chapter 41: With Great Access Privileges Comes Great Oversight**

Monday proceeded as normal, morning blowjob, morning meeting, some budget stuff, but when Colin got back from that meeting, he found a man and woman waiting in his office. That would have been a surprise unto itself, but the fact that Natalie hadn’t said a word, even though she was at her desk, made it worse.

“Can I, uh, help you?” Colin asked. The woman was looking at Colin’s bar set, and the man was looking through Colin’s telescope.

“Ah, Colin, nice to meet you.” The man turned from the telescope. “I hope you don’t mind me taking a peek. There’s a woman lounging naked by her pool.” He grinned and strode over, extending his hand. “l’m Ted, and this is Janet.”

“Can I make you a drink, Janet? Ted?” He looked to them.

“Do you make drinks a lot, Colin?” Janet asked walking over from the bar. To say she was beautiful would have been an understatement. She could have been a model, but she carried herself with a lot more authority. Colin was flooded with worry.

“I, uh, have the bar as part of the standard management setup, you know? You seemed to be interested, so I was just being polite. Can I ask what this is about?”

“We’re with Auditing and Compliance.” Janet said.

“The Auditors.” Ted grinned. “The *scary* Auditors.” He laughed at his own joke. “Look, this will be brief. We here to make sure you are using the tools at your disposal in the best interests of Fenris as whole, that you’re not abusing your own authority, and most importantly, that you’re not wasting company money.”

“Well, um, I’m not.”

“Well, okay then.” Ted smiled. “That’s what we want to hear.”

“The thing is, Colin, Ted trusts you. He trusts most people, but me, I like to see proof. Do you mind showing me proof?” Janet asked.

“Proof? That I’m not wasting money, abusing, uh…”

“Authority.” Ted offered.

“Do you need to check my computer or something?” Colin asked weakly.

“We already have.” Ted said. “We do *regularly*. That’s part of our job. It is partly why people are so scared of us…the stuff folks get up to at work!” He laughed.

“They’re also scared of us because people tend to get escorted out by security shortly after visits from us.” Janet said. “So, I hope you are taking this seriously.” Colin nodded, gulping. “Then show us proof, in action of your mind control.” Colin froze.

“I’m not sure I understand.” Colin said.

“We know what the wristbands do, Colin.” Ted held up his own to illustrate. The program guides people to preferred behavior, the preferred behavior is rewarded with positive stimulus. I know I’m dumbing it down, but at least I’m not calling *mind control*, right?” He nodded to his partner. He then pulled out his phone and looked at something. “We’d like you to call,” he glanced down at the screen, “the lab assistant, Kristie?” He looked up to Colin as he nodded. “And get her in here, okay?”

“Now?” Colin asked.

“We have other appointments today, Colin, so yes.” Janet said humorlessly. “Now would be wonderful.” Colin got on the intercom and told Natalie to send Kristie to his office. They waited a couple minutes in uncomfortable silence. Natalie led Kristie in and then excused herself. Kristie stopped just beyond the closed doors.

“The Auditors?” Kristie said.

“Yes, we met with you a little while ago, remember.” She nodded, but of course she remembered. “And you told Colin about it.” Janet stated. It wasn’t a question. Kristie blushed.

“We’re just checking up on your boss, here, Kristie, and we’re looking for you to help in that. Can you help us?” Ted asked. She nodded. “Great, so first, I’d like you to take off your clothes.” Ted wasn’t even looking at Kristie when he said this, but rather, staring down Colin.

“I—no!” Kristie stammered. “That’s crazy.”

“You *have* gotten naked for him before, though, right, partly to stop your hazing?” Janet asked.

“Yes, but that—that was for *team* building.” She protested.

“So, you won’t get naked?” Ted asked.

“No, I don’t care what you’re trying to prove here, but Auditors or not, this is too much!”

“Colin, can you tell her to just do it? It’s to help you. It would *really* help you.” Ted said.

“Kristie, I’m not sure what this is about, but it’s just a simple request…it’s not like you—.” Colin started.

“No. Not for these people…not like this.” Kristie said. “I’m all for people following the rules, being ethical, all of it…but I’m not some stripper for everyone’s amusement.” Janet walked over and whispered in Colin’s ear. His eyes widened, but he gave a small nod.

“Kristie,” Colin said, “*you should relax a little*. The anger left her face, and the other three watched Kristie ease her posture. “You should listen to these people. Take off your clothes.”

“I already said no, Colin.” But she was doing it, oblivious to her own protest.

“How do we know this wasn’t planned?” Janet asked her partner.

“You read her file.” Ted said, enjoying the view of the tall lab assistant clad only in her—albeit boring—bra and panties. “Other than her little outburst, she doesn’t have it in her. She’s a mouse.” Ted looked to Colin. “We’ve seen the videos, but I wanted to sure of the real-life response.” He turned back to Kristie. “Lower your panties a few inches.” She did as he asked without a word, showing off the of her bush and letting her panties sit low on her waist. Ted grinned. “That is a heckuva party trick. You can send the girl away.” He added looking back to Colin.

“Alright, Kristie, you can go.” She nodded, and started walking toward doors, her clothes abandoned and her ass half-exposed. “Get dressed in the vestibule, Kristie.” The girl blinked and nodded again, gathering her clothes and heading towards Natalie’s desk.

“Would she have gone back to work in just her underwear?” Janet asked. “With her, uh, her pubic hair showing?”

“Maybe.” Colin shrugged. “It really depends on whether a subject enjoys, in this case, exposing themselves. I have a sneaking suspicion Kristie *does* enjoy it, but she might have realized she was half-undressed while walking the hall back to the lab. I mean, she has already been naked in her workplace, so it may have seemed inherently normal to her in the moment. That’s really not something I’ve been looking into, but generally, if you’ve already done something once, your mind seems to think it’s okay to do it again.”

“She *seemed* into it.” Ted smirked. “Those nips could cut glass, I think.”

“The feedback for most people is sexual stimulation, arousal, whatever you want to call it.” Janet said, glancing away nervously. “And honestly, Ted, you didn’t need to make her drop her panties like that.”

“Eh,” Ted shrugged, “that underwear was no more revealing than a bathing suit. Showing us her pubes, well, we know it was really working now, right? Or are you going to prove me wrong?” He winked, but Janet rolled her eyes. Colin went to his couch and sat down.

“Can you, uh, tell me what this is about now?” He asked. What followed was thirty minutes of explanations and paperwork—lots of paperwork—and Colin found himself with a new account logon, higher privileges, and distinctly clear details and information on many more people enrolled in the program. There were a lot of warnings and threats to go along with the access, but Colin was smart enough to realize his growing power was related to his association with Clark.

He played with his new accesses for a few minutes after they left, but he didn’t really have any idea what to do with it in the moment, so he left for a long lunch. He had some real work to get done afterward, but it wasn’t anything too taxing. Still, he wasn’t fired at least, which had been his first—and admittedly, cowardly—thought.

—-

“So, you finally got an in-person visit from the Auditors today, huh, champ?” Janelle said, walking into his office without even a cursory knock. He was actually doing work, so it wasn’t terrible, but he’d have to convince Natalie to start standing up to the woman.

“I did. Don’t you knock? What if I’d been—.”

“Jerking off? Getting a blow job from someone? Been there, seen that, helped at points. I just wanted to let you know…it was me.”

“It was you…*what*?”

“I *ratted* you out.” She made air quotes. “To the Auditors.” She added, when he didn’t seem to be getting it.

“You—.” He took a breath. “Why?” He blinked. “And ratted me out for *what*? Clark told me they’d already been looking at my work. Kristie, my lab assistant, told me as well.”

“You may not be aware, but I know what your project is about. The other day, when I was hinting at it? I was testing you to see how loose-lipped you were being. Part of that was due to the changes I’ve noticed in your secretary…the buxom blonde bumbler? She went from being librarian to, well, *hot* librarian in just a couple of weeks. The blowjob clinched it though…gave up the whole series of shenanigans.”

“The Auditors weren’t mad, Janelle, so if you’re here to scold me over my use of the tools Fenris is building, then—.”

“Oh god, you poor dumb…I don’t know what to call it? Whatever fully encompasses your turnip-truck naïveté. They gave you *more* access, right?” He nodded. “*More* privileged information?” He nodded again. “But anyone outside this office hears that Colin a got a real-life visit from the Auditors—oooh!” She said it like a ghost. “Colin *must* be in trouble, right? Now, now…well…Ms. Hanna Harrowman might think she has you between a rock and a hard place, right?” She shrugged. “It’s a damned charade, Colin.” He didn’t know what to think. “Pull me up in the system”

“You’re serious?” He asked.

“I am,” she said, moving around his desk to stand over his shoulder. He clicked into the program interface and brought up Janelle’s profile. He was surprised to see a few more tabs and elements that hadn’t been there before. Much of it was personnel data, but there was more. “Just what I thought. Click that tab.” She pointed. Colin did as she asked, and his screen was filled with several nude photos of Janelle, front, back, and left and right profiles. “Before you ask, they’re a combination of medical photos and wardrobe fitting photos. You’ll get them done, too. It’s voluntary, technically, but they supposedly use them—partly—for machine learning project to make better clothing…and probably robot porn, for all I know. Regardless, there I am, in all my glory. Had a little more bush back then.” She said, offhand.

“Umm…”

“I just wanted you to know just what—exactly—you now have access to. You can see photos like these—and more. You can also see interactions around my bracelet, probably. Text recordings of conversations. A lot of it is private information. You have that for most people in Fenris now. Technically, you could probably try to make me one of your sex dolls, have me giving you sloppy blowjobs every Tuesday and Thursday.”

“Janelle, I wouldn’t—.”

“You *shouldn’t*…since it might be another test on the Auditors’ part, right?” She winked. “Though, I’m actually kind of curious if you can make me suck a dick. I haven’t done that since college, back when I was discovering dick really didn’t do dick for me—ha. Still, some of the guys claim I gave a good one, and it didn’t really bother me as long as I got to come.” Colin glanced up at her. “Oh, come on, don’t look so hurt. I’m pretty sure you realized I was like 97.3% lesbian, right? I mean, a little hand job every now and then, just to keep things going smoothly at work, I don’t mind one bit. I’m a sexual person. I don’t mind cock—my collection of vibrators clearly indicates that—but I don’t think your little machine can make me fuck a guy.”

“It’s not really the way it works.” He said.

“Wow, don’t blow me away with all the techno-mumbo-jumbo.” She laughed. “Fuck it, let’s try it.”

“You’re serious?”

“You seem to be asking that a lot, Colin, but it’s your dick that has the potential of getting wet in this situation, so you tell me?” She pulled out her phone. “Hang on, before you do anything.” She typed away at her screen for a minute. “There. I told the Auditors I was volunteering to be tested on—temporarily.” She admonished. “All changes to be reverted in the next system roll-over. Are we clear?” He nodded. Colin went into the deployment tab and was surprised to Janelle was already enrolled, just not active. He went into the sub-command system and found a few key phrases to test with Janelle. It was all so much easier with his higher privileges. He highlighted one phrase to her and she laughed. “I don’t even remember you saying that to me. God, this thing does record *everything*.” She looked at her wristband.

“Okay, I think we’re ready. Just so you know, I’ll use a key phrase. This will put you into a more receptive mode. Then, we can try…well, that *phrase*.”

“I feel like a sexy test pilot or something.” She laughed. “Worst Halloween costume ever.”

“Subjects don’t normally *know* they are being prompted, manipulated, so I’m curious to see how this goes, myself.” He said. “Ready?” She nodded, moving back to in front of his desk. “*You are mine to command*.”

“Oh…” She clutched her wristband for a second then looked down at her crotch. “Wow…I feel…*it*…whatever it is. This isn’t like taking a drug or something…but, damn…damn…I *know* what’s happening. I *really* want to listen to you, Colin. I really do.”

“*Take off your clothes*.” He said.

“Oh, so that’s what we’re doing…no foreplay?” She laughed. “This feels really amazing, pleasant. I mean, I’m feeling it where it counts, but it’s not clouding my mind. Do you want a slow strip tease, maybe put some music on or—fuck!” Janelle glanced down and saw that her jacket, blouse, and skirt were on the floor. “How did you—? Did I—?” She looked at Colin who was still sitting at his desk. He was thoroughly enjoying her confusion, not to mention her surprisingly sexy work lingerie. Janelle’s black bra and panties were mostly sheer except for traces of a lace near the seams. He could see her nipples and the little bit of bush she had. She was clearly aroused, though he’d expected nothing less from his command. “I didn’t even realize I was taking off my clothes that quickly. I just thinking of ways to tease you…talking about it…and I already did it.”

“Did you enjoy it?” He asked.

“Colin, I am really…like…*really* wet right now.” She slid a hand down the front of her panties and started touching herself. “Oh, that feels sooo good…” Colin got up and walked around his desk.

“Take my cock out, Janelle.” She gasped with pleasure at following his orders. He’d really ramped up her sexual response, more than he’d done with anyone thus far. If she hadn’t volunteered, he might have been gentler, but she seemed genuinely interested in feeling the full effects. This was interesting to Colin from that perspective, too. He stood in front of Janelle and she unzipped his pants, pulling his hardon free.

“You want some help with that?” She started stroking his cock with her other hand. “I *want* to please you…make you happy. That’s what this is about, right…? Mmm…” She shivered with pleasure as she continued to touch herself. “That’s the feedback. I make you happy…I enjoy myself more?”

“Yes, Janelle, though you already knew most of that, didn’t you?”

“It’s different when you’re *in* the moment, but yes…mmm…I was briefed into the project over a year ago. We bought out the company who developed some of the primary technology. Saw the videos. The early ones were some freaky shit, in my, mmmhh,” she moaned, “in my professional opinion. The whole thing came out of a program to help with PTSD, can you imagine?” Colin was fairly certain she wasn’t supposed to be telling him this, though *truly* radical honesty seemed to be a side-effect of the bracelet. “Fuck. I’m about to come, and I’ve barely touched myself. God damn, this is so good.”

“It does work, and not just with the sex.”

“You’ve been a—fuuuck—a boon to the program.” She hissed with pleasure.

“Get on your knees.”

“Yes, sir, boss man…oh!” She squirted a bit in following his order, and giggled. She was still pumping his cock, though splitting her attention with touching herself.

“Give me a blow job.” She leaned in, her lips brushing the tip of him, her tongue sliding out, giving him a tentative lick, and she moaned with pleasure—but then she pulled back. “Give me a blow job, Janelle.” She leaned in once more and started coming, full moans, and heaving body. Colin, almost by surprise, started coming as well, her handjob apparently more than enough, and he shot a stream of semen that grazed her cheek but mostly went over Janelle’s shoulder so it spattered the carpet; the rest spotted Janelle’s cleavage and arm.

“That,” she sat back on her haunches, “was a fucking disaster.” She looked down at the come on her tits and on the floor behind her. “I was really close to putting you in my mouth…close…but no cigar.” She grinned. “Even moving to comply, though…fuck…that little lick? That was like someone buzzing me with a vibrator or something. Just the *attempt* sent me over the edge.” She got up and went to wet bar at the far side of the room. She washed her hands then started dabbing the semen off her body. Colin studied her ass as she shifted her balance from one leg to other in cleaning herself. She looked fantastic in stockings and heels. She looked down between her legs. “I have no intention of walking around in wet panties all day.” She said, and slipped them off, setting them on the counter. “I’ll come get them by the end of the day. Just don’t tell anyone I’m out of dress code.” She looked over her shoulder. She was pulling one of her power plays again. She was reasserting her dominance with her nudity, but he recognized it, and let it slide.

“*You are mine to command*.” Her knees came together, and she clutched at her sex.

“I didn’t think I could get aroused so…*quickly*…after…I was just trying to fight the urge, Colin…I would have let—.”

“Move you hand away.” She revealed her trimmed bush, her pussy looking slick to match her thighs. “Now, remove the bra.” She was happy to comply—more than happy—and before he could stop her, she was working at making herself come again. “*You are mine to command*.” She froze, looking at him. He’d learned the trick from Stella. The more he loaded a ‘priming’ command, the more responsive people got, to the point they’d freeze up, waiting to be told what to do next. “You’ll remember stripping for me, touching yourself, making me come, but nothing more.”

“Okay.” She went back to touching herself.

“What’s the deal with Clark? What’s going on there?”

“I’m not supposed to tell you.” She laughed. “But I *want* to tell you, Colin.”

“*You are mine to command*, Janelle.” She moaned. “Tell me.”

“Clark wants Nina Harrowman out of the picture. He wants you to do it, of course, as his proxy. All of which I think…mmm…you know. But, we can’t have the big bosses openly gunning for each other. Fuck…I’m literally dripping at telling you this.” She grinned. “This past weekend was about testing your loyalty. A lot of your early time with Fenris has been tests…fuck, fuck, fuck,” she gasped, “you just don’t know it. Tests I designed, by the way.”

“Tests like what?” He asked.

“You enjoying your secretary, you fucking other employees, you letting people play with your wife, even me fucking Stella to get her to officially sign on with Fenris, taking initiative to explore and expand the program’s capabilities, and finally, Clark having his wife play with you—which she likes. That got you big points, apparently.”

“I figured out most of that—Clark *told* me most of that—but the whole thing seemed off…as if there was more to it. Tell me, Janelle.”

“Haven’t you figured it out yet, Colin? Rshght whghf fgt klgdsffgher fh dfg sdgfthgs, fhh.”

“What? You’re babbling.” Colin shook his head.

“Rshght whghf fgt klgdsffgher fh dfg sdgfthgs, Colin. Clark, dfsdfgkrjgfs fgd sd ty wwegl gh dmfgnsf, sksa rtk dhjr dmfgnsf.” It was gibberish. He’d amped the pleasure up too much, maybe. “Sure, you *want* to help, Colin, because you’re a good guy at heart, but you’re subbing in the major league right now, and let’s be honest, you are *little* league, at best, this early in your career at Fenris.” Colin was still *very* confused, but didn’t push, didn’t want to potentially break her, but she wasn’t wrong on that last bit. He knew he wasn’t much more than a pawn. He was shaken out his thoughts by her coming once more. Seeing her so lost in pleasure was very distracting.

“Get dressed—your panties, too—and go back to your normal day.” He could assert dominance as well, at least for this brief window.

“Wow…” She shook her head. “That was wild. I mean, I can’t believe I just stripped for you…that I masturbated in front of you.” She giggled a little. “I mean, I *can* believe it. I’m naked, after all.” She looked down at herself. “And soaked.” She laughed. “But I didn’t really think twice about it.”

“You have to, at some level, *want* to do the things you do.” He said.

“I guess.” She said with a shrug. “I mean, I *do* like a good orgasm, and I *do* like being nude, but I need to get back to my day. This was fun…I think…but I’m sure we both have other things to do.” She gathered her things, pulling on her damp panties, followed by the rest of her clothes. She crossed the room and leaned in, kissing him on the cheek while at the same time grabbing his cock. “You want me to put this away, or do you want Natalie to see the source of the mess she’ll have to clean up on the floor?”

“I’ll take care of it.” He said, moving her hand away. She smirked.

“Enjoy the rest of your day…and your new toys.” She nodded to his computer and laughed, leaving him in his office. He quickly put his penis back in his pants and called Natalie in. “The carpet needs cleaned.” He pointed. The office probably smelled of sex, but Natalie’s expression didn’t change. “I’m going to go check on things down at the lab.” He left her to the task.

—-

**Chapter 42: Laboratory Retriever**

Colin didn’t quite make it to the lab, being met by Mike a few steps from the door.

“I was just coming to see you.” Mike said.

“My office isn’t, uhhh…a good place to go right now.” Colin said. “So, what’s up?”

“I’d prefer we talked outside. Can we walk the campus?”

“I could use a cup of coffee. Let’s go to the café.” The men said nothing until they were outside the building. “So, what’s up—again?”

“I’m seeing some weird activity surrounding your account. Parts of it are now encrypted and—.”

“Mike, the Auditors have given me some extra privileges, things I guess *you* can’t see.”

“For the most part, I can still interpret the activity, just not who with. You, um, *manipulated* a new target just a few minutes ago, for example.” Colin found it interesting that his new privileges also hid his general activity.

“Indeed. That’s the reason we couldn’t talk in my office—it’s being *cleaned*.”

“Oh. *Oh.*” His eyes widened. “Um, okay.” Mike muttered. “On top of that, I’m also supposed to tell you I’ve implemented the new mesh protocols. I hadn’t realized there was *another* software and firmware team who was working on this.”

“Neither had I.” Colin said, confused, but not letting it slip.

“The changes came from Clark Brockville—I thought the guy retired, but he’s apparently some sort of senior advisory project manager or some other BS title.” That told Colin all he really needed to know. “They’re now integrated into our project plan. It really smoothed out the mesh elements, the bleed over is still there, but is much more subtle. It builds rather than overwhelms a subject—or so the testing folks tell me. It’s rolled out as of this morning. That means it might be a day or two before we can restart our nightly rollovers because the other team wants to review a day-plus of system stats, but that’s not a huge impact on us.” Colin thought about this for a moment. He hadn’t even been contacted by Hanna Harrowman yet, but this was apparently all part of Clark’s plans.

“If Clark is pushing it, then I can’t really complain. Anything else?” Mike stopped walking, and Colin looked at him, seeing the man was nervous, even anxious.

“It’s my wife.”

“Is the bracelet not working on her, Mike? I’d be curious to see the metadata if—.”

“No, Colin, um, it’s working *very* well. I mean, almost in surprising ways.”

“I’m happy to compare notes regarding *my* wife—to a point.” Colin said, holding up his hand and laughing a little. “Is something the matter, though?”

“They stack. The commands, they build on themselves, and I’m not sure I can—for lack of a better term—reset her to normal.”

“And what is *normal*, Mike?”

“So, uh, no judgment, okay? But, every morning she gives me a blowjob or a handjob, every day I come home from work, and she greets me at the door in lingerie with a cocktail. Every time I have sex with her, she has a real and amazing orgasm.”

“Okay, other than being a stereotypically a male fantasy, I’m not seeing the problem.” Colin said.

“I guess it goes back to *real*—the reality of it? How do I know if she likes it, really, and it’s not just the machine getting her off—like a drug hit or something? That’s why I was curious about reverting her to baseline.” Colin winced, since Mike seemed to be struggling with seeing his wife’s personality as more than an operating system.

“The machine can’t make her do something she doesn’t want to.” Colin countered.

“Technically true…from testing at least, but it seems to definitely encourage people to do things they might not *normally* do.”

“Again, that word *normal*. Is she happy, though?” Colin asked, and the question seemed to take Mike by surprise.

“I…” He was thinking about it. “Yes.” He said. “Yes, she does seem happy, not even content, which I think she was before, but *actually* happy.”

“And the primary difference is that she is meeting your random male needs—while meeting her own needs—I might add.” Colin shrugged. “I’m not trying to convince you of anything here, but there are worse things than a woman getting regular orgasms and being in a happy marriage. Has she changed her other routines, hobbies, friendships?”

“No, not really, but…”

“Go on, it’s just us talking here.” Colin prompted.

“I encouraged her to let me take pictures of her.” Mike said, and Colin started to speak, to say he’d done the same with his own wife, but then Mike continued. “And share them with strangers online.” Colin raised his eyebrows, watching the other man look away.

“And she was resistant before, and now she isn’t?”

“No, Colin, no. That’s not it at all. I *never* asked her to do that before. I just decided to ask a week ago…and she was just…she was *receptive* to it. Right from the start. I didn’t use any commands at all. That’s what surprised me. No back and forth, no playful teasing…she just did it. In the moment, it was hot. I took some pictures of her, of her doing stuff with herself, then some stuff with me. We posted them, and people really responded to that. She *liked* that.”

“Okay, but it sounds like maybe the two of you just stumbled onto a fetish you both didn’t realize you had. My wife, for example, has a taken a keen interest in one of our neighbors—a female neighbor, I should add. Alison wasn’t that experimental, even in college, but I never told her to do that.” At least, Colin didn’t *specifically* tell her to keep seeing Fiona.

“But my wife…she does it a lot—on her own, even—and this is the thing…I’m not sure this is *my* wife. Like, did I mess her up somehow? Make her into someone else? Did the machine m—?”

“Enough.” Colin held up his hand. “So, you wife likes being a ‘hot wife’,” Colin made air quotes, showing he was aware of the general fetish, and Mike blushed, “but what you’re *really* concerned about here is that *she* doesn’t feel guilt or shame about expressing her desires.” Colin sighed. “Look, I’m not trying to be an armchair psychologist here, but *you* feel occasional fits of shame and guilt, and *she* doesn’t. *That’s* not the machines fault. That’s on you. In fact, I’d argue that’s one of the key pluses of the machine—all the stupid guilt and doubt gets suppressed rather than the things that give us happiness. I know for fact that we can’t make someone do something entirely out of their comfort zone…sexual or not…so you need to either accept that your wife is a sexual being, or wipe her from the program altogether. And I’ll tell you, Mike, I have no fucking clue what *that* will do. We haven’t exactly been running a double-blind study here, have we?”

“You…you’re right, Colin. The *ethics* of what we’re doing, though…it’s not gray, it’s dark gray—at best. I just don’t want her to get hurt.” He checked his watch. “I really have to get back to the lab. I’m sorry to drop all this on you…I just—.”

“You’re just looking out for people. That makes you an asset to the team, Mike. It’s okay to bring this stuff up. I may look into it myself, if that’s okay?” He nodded, and left Colin in the quad, halfway to the café. Colin made a mental note to look up Mike’s wife in the system.

—-

**End, Part 18**

Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/iyf0p0/the_neighborhood_part_18_mffexhmdommastmcscifi