"This kind of fairytale thinking does not suit you at all, Miss Brooks. You are far too smart to indulge in such idiotic fantasies."
"This has nothing to do with fairytales, Professor. I simply refuse to believe your point that every human being will inevitably be corrupted by power."
I should have known better than trying to discuss with Professor Logan. Everyone was in awe of her. She was widely considered to be one of the best in the field of socioecological studies. Her books on humanity's inability to handle power in an unselfish way quickly became the standard lecture in this field. And yet I could not help myself. I had been brought up to stand my ground and speak my mind and this was not the first time that I found myself standing at the professor's desk after the end of class. I think she enjoyed our constant banter. She always gave me a wry smile when she saw me heading towards her.
Usually, these discussions ended with her recommending some books to me. Very rarely was I able to convince her to at last acknowledge my point of view. But this time I was adamant. I would not falter. The thought that humanity in general is good and selfless is something I've never doubted. Even with all the evil in the world I am convinced that everyone - with the exception of the psychologically sick of course - possesses some inner goodness.
"This is not only my point, Miss Brooks. This thought is generally excepted as the rule in our field. Are you really willing to say that we all are wrong about this?"
I've gotten pretty good at reading her over the last few weeks and there was no doubt about it. She was challenging me. I could see it in that faint smile and the way she arched her left eyebrow.
"Maybe you are just too set in your ways to even consider a different point of view. I have read your books, Professor. You never even tried for real. You simply deducted out of history, psychology, and statistics. You know what Churchill said..."
"This argument works both ways. But unlike me you don't even have the data to back your theory up. You just cling to it because you want to, not because it is reasonable."
She had done it again. With her usual calm smugness, she went and destroyed my arguments. But I refused to be defeated this time.
"Just wait and see, Professor. This year's final paper will prove you wrong. I will show you that absolute power will not permanently corrupt everyone."
The professor shook her head. A small infuriating laugh escaping her lips. "I'm looking forward to reading it. If you really manage to prove your point, then I will make sure to grade you accordingly. I might even quote you in my next book."
Later, when I had returned to my dorm room and managed to cool down somewhat, I thought about what happened today. If I could pull this off, this would be my chance to make a name for myself. Being quoted in one of her books would give me just the right kind of credibility to land any job I wanted. And given the fact that good jobs for sociologists are far and few between, this was a chance I could not let go waste.
But how should I do this? I briefly toyed with the idea to find someone to give me absolute power over them, but this would not work. Not only was it highly unlikely to find a participant, I myself would not be able to maintain objective as the wielder of power.
No, there was only one logical choice to make this work. I had to give someone absolute power over myself without letting them know that it was a project for me. But whom? And how? I was stuck, no matter how hard I tried I could not come up with an idea.
So, I went and called my best friend Lela, to see if she wanted to go and grab something to eat. She immediately agreed, and we met up at the local burger joint.
"Don't tell me you really want to go through with this. Claudia, that's nuts. You have no idea what people will force you to do."
Lela obviously was less than excited about my plans. But that was understandable. Everyone fears the idea of losing control.
"I know that it sounds a little crazy, Lela. But I have to do this. It's a once in a lifetime chance. Besides, I am absolutely sure that after the initial excitement of having control over me has worn off, the person will inevitably feel bad about misusing their power and will apologize and release me."
"You are the expert, Claudia, but for me that sounds a bit naïve. People had slaves all through history and they hardly ever felt bad about it."
"That's because they were raised that way. In today's modern times people will behave differently. I'm sure of it."
Lela sighed and them grinned in her typical twinkly-eyed way.
"Just make sure to tell me about everything your 'master' makes you do. Speaking of which, do you have someone in mind already?"
"No, unfortunately not. But my master will probably be a mistress. A guy is bound to use me sexually at first, until his conscience kicks in. That's something I could do without."
I saw Lela's grin broaden. "No, it will not be you either, Lela. You know of this project and you're my friend, so your behavior would be unnatural."
Lela pouted playfully. "Pity, my room needs to be cleaned up badly. But seriously, why don't you use Hanna instead. I know she's your roommate, but you don't have that much contact anyways and at last she's no complete stranger. I'd feel better that way."
That actually made sense. I too was a bit hesitant about submitting to a total stranger. Hanna did not have the same friends and classes as me, she was an art major and moved in totally different circles. She was a nice enough roommate but the occasional small talk aside we mostly left each other alone.
"That's not a bad idea, Lela. She is not a total stranger but still not nearly close enough for her behavior to be influenced by knowing me."
The more I thought about it the more I liked this idea. "Yes, I think she's perfect. Now I only need to figure out a way to get things going."
"No ideas at all? I expected you to have thought this through."
"Well, blackmail seems to be the only logical way for me to surrender myself to her command. For her it has to seem entirely nonconsensual in order for her behavior to be of use for me."
Lela bit her lip, as always when she was deep in thought. "Makes sense, but I cannot think of anything that someone could blackmail you with. No offense, Claudia, but you're the most straight-laced person I know."
"That may well be the key element in this blackmail scenario. What better to blackmail me with than something that would ruin my reputation? You know how strict my parents are, they would immediately stop their support if they thought that college life is turning me in some sort of slut, as they would put it."
"Sounds like you are playing with high stakes, Claudia. So, what do you plan to do? Leave pictures of you in lingerie lying around for Hanna to find?"
I felt myself starting to blush, damn my strict upbringing. Even though I've had sex a few times, talking about sexual things still made me blush like mad.
"Something like that, yeah." Truth is, I knew that a few pictures of me in a thong would not do, I had to do something outrageous. But I couldn't even bear telling Lela about it.
At first, I briefly thought about giving a guy head while secretly filming it, but I quickly dismissed that idea. Not only made it me feel like I was prostituting myself for my project, I also would've never in a million years been able to blow some random stranger.
So that's how I found myself in my room, naked on my bed, holding a rather large cucumber and trying hard not to shake too much. My plan was simple. I had borrowed Hannah's camera and would film myself with it while masturbating in the sluttiest way possible. Usually, I just use my fingers or the shower head, but this would've been far too tame for a possible blackmail video.
I took a deep breath, then I turned the camera on and got in position on all fours. I had shaved myself and since I was not the least bit horny - I was far too nervous for that - had applied a generous helping of lube to my pussy, making it look totally wet with lust. It was cold in my room, thanks to the air condition on max. This helped making my large nipples standing hard on top of my small and firm breasts.
I started sucking the cucumber as if it were a cock, doing my very best to look and sound like a porn star in heat. I groaned, gagged and talked to myself, calling me a dirty whore, begging myself to fuck my face harder.
"Oh yeah, I need it so bad. I need it in my ass."
I decided to fake anal masturbation to make the video even more embarrassing for me. Everything would be worthless if Hanna thought I let her find the video on purpose. I turned a but and was facing the camera at an angle, so it wasn't possible for anyone to see any penetration.
I brought the cucumber between my legs and shoved it between them, just under my pussy. I had to try a few times to get the angle convincing but the end product was perfect.
The final clip looked as if this was the best fuck I've ever had. I had ended the show with the king of all faked orgasms. I strained my muscles, pumped my hips against the cucumber while rubbing my clit and let out a series of throaty moans that would've put a porn star to shame. The ton of lube running down my legs looked absolutely convincing.
I had returned the cam to Hanna's room before going to bed. She was not home, which was good since I wanted her to find the recording while being alone.
We did not meet the next morning as Hanna liked sleeping in and I usually used my free mornings to go to the gym. Truth is, I was a nervous wreck by then and I could hardly believe that I went through with my plan. I just hoped that Hanna would find my tape soon as I was eager to start with my project. I could not wait to prove that my theory was correct.
I did not have to wait long...
When I came home from the gym Hanna was up and sitting in our kitchen eating breakfast. She greeted me with an amused grin on her face. I couldn't help but think about how much she looked like the typical art student. At the moment her hair was dyed black with red streaks, though this did change all the time. It went to her shoulders on the left side of her face, the right side was shaved completely off. She was a few inches taller that my 5'1". Today was the first time I ever found her look menacing. I fetched myself a glass of OJ and almost dropped it when Hanna finally spoke.
"Did you realize that you left your SD card in the cam, Claudia?" Her voice clearly told me that she was amused.
I turned around to her and did my best to look shocked. "You did not look at it, did you?"
Hanna's grin broadened. "Of course I did. Who would have thought that the quiet, always correct Claudia loves to film herself while fucking her ass with giant cucumbers?"
"That was only once, and besides, what I do is none of your concern. Now give it back and we will forget about this, okay?" I let some of my nervousness show to make my plea more convincing. This was working exactly as I had planned so far.
"I don't think so, Claudia. I rather like this clip and besides, I think my friends would enjoy it as well. They always thought you are too uptight. Man, are they in for a surprise."
I was torn between excitement and fear. I knew that I was playing with high stakes. Still, I was certain that my theory would prove right.
"Hanna, please, you wouldn't really do this, right? If my folks get wind of this, they'll cut off their support. This could be the end of my career we're talking about here. I don't think you should joke about that. Besides, I would die of shame if anyone were to see this video."
Her malevolent grin told me that she knew I'd react that way.
"Well now, we can't have that, can we?"
I shook my head, too excited to answer.
"Let me offer you a deal then, Claudia. I will not show your little porn movie to anyone as long as you do what I say."
I was ecstatic, this was exactly the outcome I had hoped for. Now I only had to seal the deal.
"What do you mean? What do you want me to do? For how long?"
I could only hope that I managed to sound scared enough. I'm a scientist, not an actress after all.
"You will do whatever I tell you to do. For how long? Who knows. The way I see it you can't afford this movie to be seen before your graduation. After that I'm probably bored with you anyways."
It was evident that she had thought this through. The theories were clear, the newfound power had to go to her head at first. In this I agree with professor Logan.
"Okay, you win. Just please don't show this to anyone."
I hoped that I did not agree to easily, but Hanna did not seem to mind. Understandably enough she was too busy enjoying herself.
"Awesome, college life is going to be even better with my personal servant around." At this point she was practically dancing with glee. She always was easily excitable.
"You can start by cleaning my room. It's a bit of a mess in there."
That was an understatement. True to the cliché about artists she pretty much worked whenever her inspiration struck and never cleaned up.
There were piles of drawings, raw sketches, photographs and tons of books strewn around her room as if a tornado had been let loose in an art gallery. This was the part of my project I was least looking forward to. I like clean rooms, mine is practically immaculate, but cleaning after someone else -- ugh...
"Please don't forget to clean under the bed. I tend to throw my worst work there." Apparently, I was dismissed as she returned to her breakfast without paying any further attention to me.
Hanna was gone by the time I finished cleaning her room. That gave me time to shower and document the experiment's beginning in my journal. So far things went better than I had hoped.
The next day I called Lela to tell her how thing went.
"She really made you clean her room?" I could tell that Lela found this rather funny. "Did you find anything good?"
I had showed her Hanna's room once. She had talked about it for weeks afterwards. "I wasn't snooping around. There was just tons and tons of artwork. Some finished, others torn apart. Mostly really good stuff. She is talented, even if a bit morbid in her taste."
"So, are you already regretting this?"
"Not at all. In fact, I couldn't be more pleased with the way things went. Sure, I could've done without the cleaning, but that's a small sacrifice. I will prove Professor Logan wrong on this, believe me."
Just then I heard the door to our apartment open.
"Slave, are you here? Come and bring me a drink. We had sculpture class, and this always leaves me exhausted."
"I gotta go, she's back."
"Slave?" Lela was giggling at that. "Guess you have a new nickname. Have fun." I groaned. It would take a while for Lela to forget this.
I brought Hanna a Red Bull. She loved that vile stuff.
"Could you maybe not call me that? Its humiliating." I hoped that not calling me slave would be a step in the right direction. It would help remind her that I am a person. Besides, I really did not like being called that.
"It's simply the truth. You agreed to be my slave, so you better get used to it. I'm sure it would be way more humiliating for you if your video got sent to your parents, don't you agree?"
I nodded, angry at myself. I made that request way too early. She was still too enthralled by her power over me. It was an amateurish mistake.
"Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Absolutely. I need a back massage. You won't believe how exhausting it is to do sculpture work for hours."
She laid down on the couch. "Get started, slave."
I admit that this made me feel somewhat uncomfortable. But I also could not see a way around it. I took a deep breath and went to work.
I don't know anything about massages, but I figured working out the kinks and sore spots on her back shouldn't be too difficult.
Her back felt hard under my hands. It was all muscle. I wondered if she worked out or if this was all from her work. I dug my fingers in a particularly hard spot and tried to loosen it. "That feels amazing, don't stop."
It took almost an hour until Hanna was finally satisfied. "Go and run me a bath. Then you can start preparing supper. Some pasta would be nice."
After supper Hanna went to her room to draw. She did praise me on my work there. That was a good sign for me. It told me that she did not take my work for granted. Then she asked me to do the dishes.
The next day after class Professor Logan asked me to stay for a moment. "How is your project coming along, Ms. Brooks? Do you want to back out? You must have realized the foolishness of your endeavor by now."
Damn it, how could someone so bright be this infuriating. "No way, Professor. I'm working on something big and I'm sure you will be surprised by my results."
She smiled her thin, knowing smile. "I am looking forward to it. Hardly anything surprises me these days."
Hanna was already waiting for me by the time I got home. She was beaming with excitement. "We got a new assignment today, slave. And you are going to help me nail it."
"What do you mean?"
"We have to do a charcoal drawing. The theme is carnal desire, so who better to be my model than my little slutty roommate who loves to fuck her ass with cucumbers."
I felt sick to my stomach. "You don't actually plan to draw me doing what I did in the video? This would be as bad as the video getting out. People would recognize me."
"Don't worry. I'm not stupid. No one will recognize you, as I won't draw your face." She held up a black leather mask. "You will be wearing this."
"But why do you want me doing the cucumber thing? Couldn't I simply be naked or something."
"No, I want to capture that pure pleasure I saw in the video. Yours body tensing, your juices running down your thighs. This is the carnal desire that will make my work stand out above everyone else."
Fuck... It was clear that I could not talk her out of this. I had to do damage control. "Alright, but please let us start tomorrow. I have no classes then and I really have to get comfortable with this idea."
She got really close to me and grabbed my hair. She's a head taller, so the size difference between us made her loom over me.
"Alright. But let me warn you. If you fuck this up for me, I will make you regret it. I want this drawing to be the best damn thing I have ever done, understand?"
"Absolutely."
My problem-solving skills sprang into action. I rushed out to a sex shop and bought some lube that was supposed to look and smell like female secretions. After some deliberation I also bought an enema kit.
I felt so embarrassed paying for that stuff, but I figured it would be less embarrassing than having some messy accident. I had no experience with anal sex but from what I had read I needed some preparation.
Hanna and I agreed to start the drawing tomorrow after breakfast. I had the evening for my preparations.
I used the enema before going to bed. I also spent a few hours gently using my fingers on my ass.
I had to stretch myself, otherwise there would be no way for me to fake any pleasure when shoving a cucumber in there.
This was not something I had planned for, but Hanna's behavior still made some sense.
Her greed for a good grade made her use me and it was stronger than any feeling of remorse or shame that she surely felt deep down.
It also meant that after she got her satisfaction her shame should be stronger which would be a step in the right direction and thus could be a start to proving my theory.
I just had to bear this act. It was a relief that I could wear a mask. Not only would no one be able to recognize me. It would also hide my face from Hanna, making it much easier for me to fool her. It wouldn't be pleasant.
But I was strong enough to see this through. My future career depended on it.