Melody was so excited after the movie that they talked for over an hour about everything she had seen. "Please tell me there's more to the story!"
"Oh, absolutely," Mike replied. "There's two more sequels to this one, plus three more telling the story of Darth Vader before he went bad. We'll watch the rest of them throughout the week."
As evening approached, Mike warmed up the last of the leftover pizza for their dinner. The pair relaxed and ate on the living room sofa with a cop show on TV for background noise, though neither of them really paid any attention to it; just hanging with each other was entertainment enough for them. As Melody lay on the sofa, her head in Mike's lap, he couldn't help stroking her red wine hair softly.
"Mmm… that's nice…" she purred.
"Can't really help myself," he said. "I just love your hair."
Looking up at him, she gently placed her hand on his cheek. "I love your eyes. They're so pure; easily the most honest looking eyes imaginable." She sat up, leaning her head on her shoulder. "I imagine that honesty is why you've barely scratched the surface of my powers thus far."
Chuckling, he remembered his dream from this morning. "You're not far wrong. My granddaddy always had a saying about power. Didn't matter if it was politics, religion, or anything else, it always applied. 'Men who seek power actively are destined to abuse it, but men who have power unwittingly thrust upon them can be trusted to guard it.' That was obviously his wizened sage side."
Shrugging, she replied, "Seems like excellent advice, though you can definitely be trusted in using my powers."
"Ah, but that's not what he said, is it? He said they could be trusted to guard such powers, not use them. The minute someone strays towards using too much of the power they guard, they risk turning into the abuser. Make sense?"
"Yeah, I think so."
Thinking for a moment, he continued, "I know you've mentioned slowing time and memory alterations as within your abilities. Slowing time could be helpful in the right situations, but I'm not keen on memory altering unless absolutely necessary. Messing with free will just isn't a path I want to go anywhere near. Outside of those, what other powers are you referring to?"
Nodding, Melody said, "First, you are able to have any person you wish, whenever you want, in any sexual situation imaginable. I know that I previously confirmed for you that this includes actions and people considered illegal under your law, such as those under eighteen years of age. Most of these situations would usually involve gauging the desired person's sexual interest in you. If it were high enough, I would merely give their subconscious a nudge towards moving in on you. Otherwise, my memory powers would likely need to come into play."
Almost immediately, Mike responded, "You can go ahead and scratch anything like that from the realm of possibility. Just like you with me, I only have eyes for one gal, and I just happened to take her to the moon and back while in the shower this afternoon."
Quivering momentarily, she continued, "You most certainly did. I personally am incapable of jealousy, and would have no problem if you did desire other women. Still, there's no mistaking that look in your eye. I'm not changing your mind on that one, am I?" He shook his head no with a smile. "Very well, you have my word that I won't bring up that subject again. But if you do change your mind, just let me know. Anyway, the final power of mine that we haven't even touched yet is perhaps the most sought after power of genie servants throughout the centuries: the ability to create sexual fantasies."
Mike instantly perked up. "Sexual fantasies? You mean like sexual dreams?"
"Fantasies of this type do put you into a dream-like state, however the effects are much more powerful. First, the dream is far more realistic; you will feel in all ways that you are actually there, experiencing it first hand. Additionally, once the fantasy has ended, your memory of it will not fade as a normal dream does. Finally, your body will feel all the positive effects of the fantasy upon returning to reality. For example, if the fantasy involves a full body massage, that feeling of rejuvenation will still be present when you awaken."
Taking everything she told him in, Mike was exceedingly impressed. "Wow. That's incredibly powerful."
Nodding in agreement, Melody continued, "Indeed. So powerful, in fact, that there are strict rules for fantasies that I must follow. These are put into place for the mental and physical protection of my master, ensuring not only that he does not experience any fantasies too powerful for him to fully handle, but also that he does not spend more time in the fantasy world as opposed to the real world. This was the biggest concern of all in the past, several thousand years ago.
"In those days, most genies were servants to the various kings and rulers of what is today referred to as the Middle East. While the genie's primary duties would be to run the king's harem and keep his many wives happy and prepared for all sexual duties, fantasies were also highly desired and sought after. Thus, time limits had to be put into place to ensure that the king was not neglecting his duties as ruler by constantly escaping into a fantasy world."
"Ok, so how do the rules work?" Mike questioned.
"First, a master acquires fantasy time continually from the moment their genie is first released. It's currently 7:00 in the evening, and you released me around 11:00 on Friday night, meaning you have earned forty-four hours of fantasy time. Secondly, at your current experience with my powers, you are only able to experience a fantasy up to six hours long, and once you experience a fantasy, you must wait twenty-four hours before you can experience another. Finally, as you gain more experience with me and my powers, you will be allowed to earn fantasy time at a faster rate, as well as being able to experience longer fantasies at one time."
Pondering all of this, Mike replied, "So, while all of this is happening, what happens to my physical body?"
Melody continued her explanation. "Your physical body will, essentially, fall asleep while you are experiencing a fantasy. However, it is still under the full protection of all of my powers. Normally, while you are in a fantasy, time will pass normally outside of the fantasy, meaning a one-hour fantasy will cause one hour of real time to pass for your physical body. However, I am able to slow real time for the purposes of a fantasy by as much as half, if you so desire."
Leaning forward on the sofa, she continued, "I'm sorry for the lengthy explanation, but it is necessary for your safety that you fully understand the nature and limitations of fantasies before experiencing this power of mine."
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and replied sarcastically, "Please, I'm never one to skip the safety briefing."
Giggling, she asked, "So, would you like to experience a fantasy? It can be anything. You could take your high school crush to prom, seduce a beautiful actress, virtually anything you can think of. I just need a basic outline of the script before we begin. Oh, and the fantasy doesn't have to be completely sexual, though sex of some kind does need to occur for it to fall under my powers' jurisdiction."
Thinking for several minutes, Mike finally decided on a perfect idea. "First, I'd like you to be in the fantasy with me. Let's make it a one-hour fantasy, and go ahead and activate the slowing of real time while it goes on; I value my time in the real world quite a bit. As for the specific script, I'm thinking something like this…"