The city was bustling with cars' and motorbikes' hones, it was hard to move in this crowd, not to mention running. It was early in the morning and the heat of summer had not died out but people still filled the road like ants.
It was just like any normal day, something I had seen so many times whenever I went to work, so normal it made me think that everything last night was just a nightmare.
I fell to the ground as my legs gave in to exhaustion.
"Ah!! Are you ok mister?"
A young man shouted and came running at my body, while everyone was looking in awe.
He seemed to be around 20 years-old, about 10 years younger than me.
"Oh my god, what happened to you mister? Your clothes looked so ragged, did you drink too much last night or something? Where do you live? Do you feel hurt somewhere? Do you want me to bring you to a hospital?"
"Ah, what a nice kid", I felt more or less relaxed at the concerns of the strange young man.
So this was reality.
My clothes had been too dirty after the mental breakdown last night, my home had been intruded by a shitty pig and my heart ached much worse than any wounds I had ever felt. Everything last night was real.
"I…. I'm…ok"
"Ah you speak! But are you sure, mister? You look really terrible, the 87th Hospital is just around the corner, I think you should go to have a look."
"No,… I am really ok,… just tired…and thirsty… That's all"
"Ah, water. Here mister, drink this, I just bought it."
The young man gave me a can of Coca Cola, it had not been opened yet. This young man really was a nice guy.
"How much…? How much for the can…? I don't have money on me now, but I promise I will pay it back."
"Oh, you don't have to do that. Please, just drink it, I insist."
"Sorry, and uhm… Thank you"
I opened the can and poured it down in a single gulp. It was really refreshing, some of my fatigue had been relieved a bit. It might just be my imagination though.
***
After a short rest, I departed the nice young man and went on my way again. I was going to take shelter at my friend's home.
That son of a bitch might not be able to control others right now, but even if I reported to the police, it was unlikely that they would believe me, I even found it hard to believe until just now.
My friend, Otto Darwin, lived alone in the apartment on xx street, he worked at a different company than me but we still met up from time to time to get some drinks.
We used to share a dream to build a fun game back in college, but now that I got engaged and a different job at well-known IT company, his road and mine was separated. I felt a bit guilty, but Otto seemed to be an understanding man. He said everything was fine with him alone and told me to be more focused on my career. He was my best friend.
As I was lost in thought, I had already walked to his apartment building. I did not have a phone to call him down to open the door, so I asked the receptionist there to call him. It would be more convenient to build an apartment message box which connected directly to the apartment upstairs, but I supposed that technology was still far-fetched.
"Ah yes, Mister Otto told me that he would come down right away. Please wait."
"Thank you"
If things had less the presence of humans, the disaster like yesterday would not have occurred. But then again, the appearance of a device that could enchant people and control them to go against their will had proven that technology was not so trustworthy at all. As things stood, I should find a different countermeasure.
"DING!", the sound of the elevator averted my attention.
"Hey, Shawn, did you wait for long, I was in the middle of making breakfast."
"Nah, I also just sit down"
As Otto swiped his plastic card to open the electronic door, he greeted me with a great smile. It was nothing unusual, it was just like every time when he greeted me at the coffee shop or at the bar, but right now it was the thing that made me calm and relaxed.
"So what's up with that look? You had a fight with Beth or something?"
"…About that, why don't we go somewhere private? I would prefer not to say anything here."
"Huh? Why?"
"…I just can't say anything right now. Please."
Otto kept silent as he looked at me, up and down. He might have been one readily to help people, but that did not mean he was a careless person.
"Alright, let's talk in my room, standing here talking makes me feel hot."
"Ah, have you had breakfast? I had enough rice for two people."
"No, I haven't… Thanks man"
"Ah, don't be so serious, relax. We are friends, remember?"
Otto was truly the best.
***
"So… you were attacked by a mind controller, your wife became a sex doll while you managed to escape, is that it?"
"Yeah, that pretty much it."
"Is this a new idea for a hentai game or what?… Honestly, if you tell me this is a new idea for a game, I would believe it. But I guess it's not, considering how dark it is… It may appeal to few people though."
"This is not a joke, I really mean everything I said."
"That being said, what do you intend to do now? Saving Beth?"
I wanted to save Beth, but with the state she was now in, it felt impossible. Her mind might have already gone, she might stay as a slut forever even if I killed that bastard.
"This phone… That bastard used it to control me and Beth, it might help us to return her to normal if we could make the phone to register us as users. But I am unsure about that."
The problem now would be the phone.
It had a normal look like any smartphone, thin, a bit heavy with touch screen and a silver cover. But…
"As I turned it on, it would deny me as if it realized I was not the user. This might be some high level technology, or at least with high security. We could try to remove some of the parts or just break it into pieces, but there might be a chance that it would explode, or worse we might be under its control. And in the first place, this might not be programming at all, but something more unbelievable like magic."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, all I'm talking right now is all speculation and assumption but… Do you think there is a technology that make others obey you, so submissive that they don't realize they are under control, even when they are hurting or perhaps dying?"
"I'm no El*n Musk, just a game developer, how do I know about any of this? Wait, but did you not manage to run away by biting your tongue? Is hurt not the countermeasure?"
"It is not just the pain. It's like how you reflexively cover your head when you feel like something was flying your way. My body was still under his control at that moment, only my mouth was allowed to move freely, but when I bit my own tongue, the reflex to cover it kicked in. I then used it to startle the pig and take the phone from him, which ultimately released me from the spell. Had things not gone my way, like him telling me to ignore everything or not thinking anymore instead of torturing me, I would not have escaped."
"Can he really do that? Beth might be still have her thoughts intact even as she went through…uhm everything?"
"It is not impossible, but it might be unlikely. Considering she still stayed in place even when I took the phone from the pig's hand. Her mind could be long gone."
"So, it is hopeless then? Even if we saved her, if we can't make the phone to help us, she could not be sane again? And since the phone is another risk, we can't hope to use it?"
"Well, that is what I've been trying to tell you."
"…Hmm, this is a real pickle."
"…"
This was a really bad situation. Even now, Beth's situation had not been confirmed, I ran thinking there was nothing I could do, but I might have tried to take Beth with me… No, regretting about what I could have done was useless now anyways.
"But are you sure this is the first time you meet him, Shawn? It could be a personal grudge."
"… I don't know if I have done something to deserve this, but that bastard… He is just unforgiveable! The next time we meet, I will beat the crap out of him, cut his dick off, slice it, and when he begs for mercy, I will make him cut off his own arms in exchange!"
I could not calm myself as I thought about what he did to me and my wife. The experience came back along with all the emotions.
"Bro, you will be charged for attempting murder you know that?"
"So? What will he be if we give him to the police? He will only be locked up in some prison for the crimes he did, he would not learn anything. People like him, they deserve the worst of punishment."
"Shawn…"
I understood what Otto was trying to say, but I could not come to forgive that bastard or have him rot in some cells for some 10 or 20 years. He must pay for what he did.
Ring ring ~
"Hmm?"
"Ah it's my phone. Wait a bit…. Hmm, this is!? Shawn! Shawn, It's Beth! Beth is calling!"
"What!?"
I rushed over to the Otto's phone, Otto handed it over to me. The name appearing on the screen was no other than my beloved's. But what did this mean?
Baffled by the sudden call by someone, Otto and I looked at each other.
"This might be a trap from that bastard… Otto, if I act weirdly, take the phone from me right away, ok?"
"Ok."
As we hurriedly agreed on the a battle plan, I touched the phone screen to answer the phone call.
"Hello?"
"Ah!... Is that you honey? Are you… Ah… staying at Otto's… Ah… home?... Ah, I'm cu..."
Beth answered the phone in an asynchronous pattern, she could not even finish the sentence properly.
It was clear what she was doing and who was doing it to her.
"YOU MOTHERFUCKER! You Bastard! I know you are listening! Give me back my Beth, you son of a bitch!"
"Whoa now, you are more talkative than when you watch me fucking your wife, aren't ya? Hahahah. Calm down now, your bitch wife is in my hand to decide. I have been telling this bitch to give me a blowjob, and no matter how I slap her, she would not open her mouth, even if her face is such a mess. What a dedicate bitch! Hahahahhahahahahahah"
"I WILL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!"
Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!
Again, I lost my cool. This bastard was rotten to the core, there was nothing but lust left in that pig's mind.
"Ah… Honey…
"Huh? What do you say, Beth?"
"Calm down… Ah… I am fi..ughhh… So gooood…."
"You heard your wife? So be a good boy and stop shouting, it is annoying."
The bastard was playing with my wife while talking to me on the phone. Our guess was correct, even if the phone was not in his hands, he could still control her.
"I told you to calm down, didn't I? Hmm, how about this, you want this bitch back, right? And I want to have my phone back, what do you say we have a deal?"
"Huh? …A deal?"