Executive Toys By Moonrunner A deadly job interview. Corporate Amazons brainwashed and forced to fight. Linked by a covered passage to the main house, the converted barn on Madeleine Geryon's estate would eventually become her new gymnasium. For now though it was temporary storage for some highly experimental equipment. Two silver metal cubes, roughly Geryon's height, stood opposite each other across twenty feet of black rubberised flooring. Standing between them, directly underneath the multi-lensed projection units in the ceiling, she activated a holographic computer interface. A gesture was all it took, and three-dimensional images appeared, floating around her like colourful party balloons. Madeleine was pleased by the responsiveness of the system. It had been developed by her own corporation, and when the production version was released it would pretty much make keyboards obsolete. Being displayed at the moment were wire frame representations of two athletically built human females, next to continuously updated streams of biometric data. It was a live feed from inside the cubes, where she'd held these women in a narcotised dream state. For days she had delegated the running of her empire to others while she concentrated on preparing these women, and now they were to be wakened for the most important test they would ever face. When it was all over they would never be able to remember a second of it. A Vice President position was about to open up within the multi-national Geryon Corporation, with two excellent candidates in the running for it. Both were intelligent. Each had the relevant experience. What still concerned Madeleine was how could she be sure either Elaine or Nisha had the killer instinct necessary for a job at this level? A solution suggested itself at one of the many charitable functions her public relations people kept badgering her to attend. It was the opening of an exhibition of work by the photographer George Rodger. It had included his pictures of the fighting contests of the Sudanese Kau Nuba tribe, which had impressed her enough that she's purchased several prints for the walls of her study. Stripped naked, their warriors would face off with razor sharp brass rings ties around their wrists and ankles. The bout continued beneath the blazing African sun until one of them succumbed to exhaustion or blood loss. In this way, the men of the village decided who was greatest among them. Why then, Madeleine reasoned, should she not apply the same test to the selection of her new Vice President? To her it was an amusing notion, having two boardroom ball-busters test each other's bodies to failure in single combat. Without Madeleine's practically limitless resources it would have stayed at that: nothing more than the somewhat kinky daydream of a bored Billionairess. Instead it developed into an obsession that eventually became a fully fleshed plan. She'd invited the women out to her house in the country for the weekend, extensively so they could brief her personally on a new Far Eastern deal they were putting together. An excellent lunch was laid on for them, accompanied by several bottles of vintage Krug, and afterwards Geryon suggested her guests might like to relax for a while in the steam room while she took care of some important calls. Madeleine showed them the way, and then retired to her study, where she continued to keep tabs on the two women via web cam. As she'd hoped, they were by now slightly tipsy, giggling and sharing raucous jokes as they undressed. Madeleine observed that Elaine McCann, the older of them by six years, still retained the lean muscle developed over long summers working her parent's farmstead. Supple and quick, her hopes of victory in the upcoming test would probably lie in how long she could keep dodging the attacks of her more physically imposing rival. Otherwise this would turn out to be a brief, one-sided contest. From an aesthetic point of view, Nisha Dasani was undoubtedly packing more brawn than her frame was designed to carry and tended to look dumpy in the designer clothes favoured by her corporate colleges. Seen as she was now however, completely stripped, her body was an almost mythological engine of destruction. An opponent coming within reach of her fists would pay a dear price for their carelessness. Geryon kept on watching till the Perspex door of the steam room was pulled shut behind Nisha before setting off for the barn to make some final preparations. By the time she returned the combination of heat and alcohol had done its work. Both women were unconscious. Nisha was slumped in the corner. The bottle she'd been swigging from nestled between those powerful thighs, her hand still gripped around its neck. Elaine was stretched out on the opposite bench. One arm hung over the edge, fingertips dangling in a pool of champagne beside her toppled glass. The towel she'd been using to guard her modesty had fallen open. Adjusting the thermostat to a more comfortable setting, Madeleine slid back the Perspex screen and entered the steam room with a gas-powered hypo-gun at the ready. It was loaded with a fast acting sedative provided by her pharmaceutical division. First she went to Nisha, who began to stir when the hypo was placed against her skin. But the drug was flooding her brain, pulling her back down into sleep, even before her eyes could open. Madeleine administered the same treatment to her other guest. Then, nude and unresisting, they were placed on gurneys, wheeled down the tunnel to the barn and hooked to life support equipment inside the cubes. Madeleine had never been naive enough to assume the two executives would go along with her plan voluntarily. To ensure their cooperation she had drafted in some unique technology. For the next five days the cubes would take care of all their physical needs, while a scenario was implanted in their heavily medicated brains that they would later be compelled to play out in real life. Concluded in part two. Executive Toys part 2 By Moonrunner A deadly job interview. Corporate Amazons brainwashed and forced to fight. According to the holographic display, the revival process for the cube on the left was ninety-five percent complete. Longitudinal splits appeared in the cube as the halves of the silver metal box began to slide apart from each other. Inside there was the movement of robot armatures folding back into their housings, retracting probes and needles from a muscular body laid out on an examination couch. It was Nisha, becoming restless now that her sedation had been withdrawn. Stepping up to the couch, Madeleine walked her fingers across the rugged cartography of Nisha's stomach, enjoying the pleasant contrast between the smooth brown skin and the firm flesh beneath. Madeleine felt the first pangs of regret that she'd shortly have to let go of her new playthings, as the young executive would never have consent to this degree of physical intimacy with her employer were she not bound and drugged. Greyon's sexual relations tended to end up as a war for dominance. She played for all or nothing, and neither Dasani nor McCann were the type who would submit to her willingly. A pity, as her instincts told her either woman could easily match her own insatiability and need for experimentation. ''Nisha, I want you to listen to my voice. Do you remember where you are? You've been abducted. Those creatures have brought you onboard their ship.'' Elaine, her cube standing open on the far side of the barn, had already been through this stage. It was a necessary reaffirmation of the new programming. Madeleine knew precisely the images her words were conjuring for Nisha. >>From sources as diverse as low budget sci-fi movies to prog rock album covers she had selected the pictures to illustrate her story, then broadcast them directly into the skulls of her captives. An electronic avatar of Geryon herself provided the narration, repeating it over and over until it was the only truth that existed for either of them. ''Their scientists probed you. They used you in unspeakable ways. If you don't escape now you will be taken back to their world as a slave. There's only one guard between you and the airlock. Some kind of a mutant. It's very strong, but if you defeat it you will be free.'' Eyes opening, Nisha bared her teeth and hissed, thrashing against the straps that held her. Even as use of her body returned she was struggling to regain the part of her mind still lost to her. Without it she had nothing to fend off the reprogramming forced upon her while she slept. A primitive bloodlust was rising within her, submerging all that was civilised, all that was reasoning in her nature. She must fight! That was the only way to release the animalistic urges overwhelming her and reducing her to a maddened beast. Satisfied that both women were ready, Greyon retreated to a vantage point beside one of the barn's long walls and gave the command for the computer to unlock the restraints holding Elaine and Nisha. Instantly the combatants leapt from their couches and rushed toward each other with guttural, incoherent cries. The effect of the medication was strong enough that neither friend was capable of recognising the other, seeing only the fearsome alien enemy they'd been conditioned to see. Unfortunately it was also slowing their muscles and minds, retarding their ability to fight. They were too doped up to either attack or defend effectively. Stumbling, disorientated, they were taking lazy swings at blurry after images, with none of them connecting with any force. McCann was the one to step up the pace. Interlocking her fingers, she clubbed the side of Nisha's head with her balled fists, with the reverse swing striking the underside of her jaw. This double blow was sufficient to clear away some of the muzziness for Nisha, who retaliated before Elaine could press her advantage. Snatching for a handful of her opponent's hair, Dasani forced Elaine's head down till she was doubled over. Then, like hammer into anvil, Nisha repeatedly pounded the point between McCann's shoulder blades. Buckling under the assault, Elaine clung to her attacker for support, trying to circle her arms around Nisha's thick waist. Instead she managed to grab hold of Nisha's buttocks and sink her nails deep into the swelling flesh. Roaring with pain, Nisha released her grip but Elaine had barely straightened up before the next punch was barrelling at her. She ducked under it and pivoted around in a spinning kick aimed to catch Nisha high on the ribs. The larger girl was ready for her. She made a successful grab for Elaine's foot and twisted, sending McCann on a gravity assisted intercept course with the ground. Then she threw her own 145 lbs of gym-hardened muscle on top of her opponent, crashing down on her like a landslide. With a second to react, Elaine was able to draw her knees up to her chest, then snap her legs straight out so her heels smashed into Nisha's face. It sent the dark skinned Amazon tumbling across the expanse of black rubber flooring, ending up face down and motionless. Watching from the sidelines, Geryon was astounded that the bone crunching impact didn't take Nisha's head clean off. It would be a miracle if her neck weren't broken. Shifting her attention back to Elaine, Madeleine was amazed to find the former farm girl was somehow standing. Breathing heavily, perspiration rolling off her pumped and over-exerted muscles, she appeared on the verge of collapse. Fixing her eyes on her fallen adversary she began to move unsteadily in that direction. Nisha had raised herself to her hands and knees by the time Elaine reached her. In one smooth motion Elaine delivered a kick to her opponent's exposed midriff that flipped Nisha over on her back, then planted a foot firmly against her throat. Starved of oxygen, about to be overcome by unconsciousness, Nisha could make only feeble attempts to push her away. Geryon had seen enough. If she did not act soon a prize asset would be lost to her. Madeleine dashed from the shadows with her hypo-gun. Catching up with Elaine in a couple of strides she slipped her arm around the other woman's waist, ready to take her weight as she went limp, and squeezed the trigger. Elaine let out a low moan, her head flopping forward. The Adrenalin coursing through her system working against this latest shot of sedative, she trembled for a moment in Madeleine's grasp. Then she was out cold. ''It's finished, Elaine; the test is over. You fought magnificently, but the battle has weakened you more than you realise. You must sleep now. When you wake, all this will be seem nothing more than a fever dream.'' Gently easing her burden to the floor, Madeleine went over to inspect Nisha's injuries. Fortunately most of what she found was superficial bruising, though she wouldn't have been surprised if there was some minor concussion. With little apparent effort Madeleine scooped her up and returned her to the examination couch where she'd rest and be healed during the final stage of her conditioning. As promised, the women would be left with no recollection of their fight. Everything after they'd passed out in the steam room was to be replaced with false memories. In Elaine's case they'd be of a relaxing Caribbean holiday she'd taken before beginning her new Vice President's position at the Corporation. But the hypnotic triggers would be left in place, ensuring forever more they'd both be Madeleine Geryon's executive toys.