This is the eleventh, and final, chapter of the continuing saga (which started out as a short story); to read part 10, click here.
Chapter 11: Golden Mind Slaves (the Last Chapter, for now...)
Perhaps
she would turn all men into construction materials like the two policemen
The
mental feedback between her and Carl’s obedient mind grew by leaps and
bounds. The more she indulged in golden pleasure, Carl’s increased in response,
which in turn magnified Hypatia's, an overwhelming addiction combined with
the ultimate power. As her pleasure grew, thoughts of revenge receded into
the background, erased by the siren call of everlasting ecstasy.
Hypatia’s
mind moaned in absolute bliss inside her solid gold body, she was gold,
wondrous shining gold! Of all the substances she had become, gold was the
most enjoyable of all! The rising tide of gold fever overtook her soul;
she loved being gold, being covered with gold, gold all around! As her
desire grew, Carl’s suborned mind granted her wish for gold far and wide.
Around the gold pedestal that the golden Hypatia stood upon, the ground
began to turn to gold in a wave of outwards spreading transmutation. Everything
around her turned to purest gold, the ground, the statues, foliage and
eventually the surrounding structure. The wave of transmutation sped down
hallways turning everything to solid gold, the building and everything
within, including a surprised staff frozen instantly into gold statues.
The living souls of the gilded staff shouted out in psychic joy as their
energy added to Hypatia’s ring of power, boosting the rate of golden metamorphosis.
The surge of gold spread outwards to encompass the grounds surrounding
the estate, as all became a glittering kingdom of noble metal.
Hypatia
could feel the increase in the amount of gold around her, its growth increased
her enjoyment and in reply Carl’s mindless instinct magnified the power
of the precious touch.
The
wave of transmutation sped downwards through sold rock, a shaft of gold
aimed at the heart of the world. The golden streak raced down and down,
converting billions of tons of crust to precious metal, continuing without
pause through the earth’s deep mantle. The golden column struck the fiery
core of the planet and transformed the earth’s molten iron center to liquid
gold and raced outwards at almost the speed of light, turning the entire
material of the earth into one substance, one element, one metal, gold,
absolutely pure gold!
All
round the surface of the earth, people noticed a slight tremor and a heavy
feeling as gravity increased. An instant later the golden wave erupted
from the ground and all humanity became immobile statues of precious metal.
Everything and everyone became solid gold as buildings; vehicles, lakes,
rivers, oceans, flora and fauna underwent an instant Midas touch. Even
the very air transmuted into gold, as the precious touch formed gold out
of emptiness, embedding everything in purest gold. Golden articles embedded
in solid gold, gold within gold, gold was everyplace and everything was
gold.
In
aircraft all over the world crew and passengers felt their weight increase
as the earth’s gravity intensified. Aircraft pilots had a moments glimpse
of the golden landscape below, then a golden skyline of transmuting atmosphere
rising upwards at fantastic speed to overtake them. The rising tide of
gold touched every aircraft, transmuting them and everyone aboard as the
sea of gold sped skyward. Upwards through the rarefied upper atmosphere
an ocean of solid metal roared, into the emptiness of outer space, as Carl’s
magic continued forming gold from the empty vacuum. Up and up the sheath
of solid metal rose, sweeping up, transforming and surrounding orbiting
satellites, spacestation’s, space shuttles and astronauts. The earth had
become a gigantic, perfectly smooth globe of solid gold thousands of miles
in diameter. Within the sphere of precious metal, not one bubble or empty
void remained, all was seamless, perfect, flawless, solid, and noble metal,
earth was no longer a blue planet, but a enormous golden orb.
Deep
within the astronomical vastness of gold billions of living souls embedded
in solid metal cried out with joy, as absolute mental and physical pleasure
dominated their intellects.
Gold
continued to form from emptiness as the growth of planet’s radius began
to slow, until it came to a stop and golden earth began to slowly shrink
in size.
The
mass of a planet turned to heavy metal had increased its gravity, becoming
so intense that the very planet was compressing under the force of its
own weight. As the very substance of the earth was squeezed under the unstoppable
force its density increased, causing gravity to grow in turn and compress
even more. As the process of gravitational compression continued, fresh
mass was being continuously added as trillions of tons of gold magically
synthesized out of nothingness.
The
moon began to spiral inwards towards the earth as the earth’s gravity well
deepened, the ferocious gravitational tides fracturing the moon into a
ring of rock and dust. Eventually the ring of lunar rubble contracted inwards,
was transmuted into gold and merged with the growing mass of precious metal.
The
gravitational compression generated colossal pressure and tremendous heat;
solid metal began to melt, as the earth became a glowing incandescent ball
of molten gold.
Billions
of souls felt absolute pleasure as their golden bodies softened, liquefied
and merged with the surrounding molten metal, becoming part of a vast ocean
of swirling, churning liquid gold. The minds of everyone who had ever lived
dispersed and mixed with each other in an everlasting orgasm of delight
beyond experience.
The
planet became even hotter, more massive and denser as it contracted into
a white-hot sphere a fraction of its original size. Its smaller size gave
no indication of its greater mass as its gravitational field began to effect
the surrounding space. It’s mass now rivaled the sun’s, so great was its
effect that the sun’s inner planets were lost as their orbits were disrupted
and they were flung out of the solar system.
The
golden substance of the earth become so dense, so hot, so compressed that
the electrons around every atom of gold merged into a sea of ionized particles.
As every atom of gold lost their electrons they grew closer, until the
nuclei of every atom almost touched one another. Molten gold compacted
and solidified into a crystalline, white hot matrix of glowing metal millions
of times denser than lead.
As
the golden sphere contracted to an incredible compactness, billions of
spirits erupted in intensifying cries of physical pleasure. Earth was no
longer a planet, it had become a white-hot dwarf star, a celestial body
of pure incandescent gold!
Still
the magical wave continued to create gold, adding to the mass of the new
born star, it began to grow again, until it became a mass greater than
the sun. The sun and the remaining outer planets began to orbit around
the newborn golden star.
The
mass continued to grow until a new threshold was reached, the gravity and
compression was so great that the force of electrons were no longer enough
to hold back the force of gravity. There was a flash of light as all the
substance of the earth compressed down further, gold nuclei merging into
solid neutronium. At the moment of transmutation into neutronuim an even
greater cry of joyance soared through the astral planes as the unified
souls of mankind shouted out in unimaginable pleasure. Neutronium, an impenetrable
solid billions of times denser than lead or gold, millions of times harder
than diamond, unyielding, unimaginable material. Earth had become a neutron
star, radiating with the actinic glow of gamma rays as its near indestructible
crystalline substance heated to millions of degrees.
Still
the mass increase relentlessly continued and another threshold was reached,
even neutronium’s awesome strength could not stop the final compression
and the neutronium collapsed inwards. A shell of blackness formed around
the earth as it fell into the event horizon of its own making, falling
endlessly to an infinitely small point. Billions of souls shouted out one
last cry of absolute pleasure as they merged into an infinitely small point
of infinite density. The remains of the solar system quaked as time and
space collapsed into a quantum singularity and a black hole was born.
Carl
shook his head as his mind cleared, quite startled to find himself back
in the central courtyard of his mansion. Held within his hand was a gold
necklace, the very gold necklace that had been the key allowing contact
with Hypatia and the golden maidens.
He
noticed a familiar spirit hovering nearby, Ariel!
“Another
defense built into the power.” Ariel continued, “I showed you the future
if you released Hyaptia and her maidens from their golden spell.”
He
dropped the necklace and shuddered, “It could have been a literal doomsday,
a golden doom!”
“That
was a glimpse of the disaster that Hypatia’s liberation would bring about!”
Ariel shook her head and sighed, “I hope someday to help her face her anger
and achieve enlightenment, for now she and her maidens must remain in golden
bliss.”
“What
I can’t understand is, if she has such endless pleasure, why bother with
her man hating dreams of vengeance? What did I or anyone else do to gain
her ire?”
“Hypatia
was born into a minor royal family, as a woman she was a second class citizen,
even though of noble blood. As a teenager her developing psychic powers
became strong enough to give her a measure of power in a male dominated
society. As her telepathic abilities grew so did men’s fear and suspicion,
forcing her to flee her homeland. She never forgot that experience, it
led to her lust for domination and reliance on mind control instead of
persuasion.”
“I
think I understand, and I can forgive.” Carl stood up and rubbed his eyes,
“I owe you a debt of gratitude Ariel, the whole mess was avoided...” His
eyes went wide and one word escaped his lips, “Pamela!”
Terry
Thadowski was relaxed, his department was so well organized that it practically
ran itself, allowing him time for personal leisure. Leaning back in his
chair, while idly surfing the Internet he never noticed the presence that
silently appeared behind him.
Behind
him a familiar voice spoke, “Humm, STFW, Statue Transformation Fantasy
Webring, doing some extra research Mr. Thadowski?”
Terry
practically jumped out of his skin as he hit the Webscrape close button
and swiveled his chair around.
“I,
umm, I was doing some research and the search engine accidentally linked
to that page, you know how imprecise web searches can be.”
Carl
picked up a sheet from a pile atop the laser printer and glanced at it
while reading aloud, “Interesting visual merchandising research here. Hexes
are Ours, the story of a magic shop owner who turns people into mannequins.”
Carl
glanced at another page, “Here’s one concerning a magic wand that turns
people into plastic, do I see a common theme here?”
Terry’s
face turned slightly red, he gulped, loosed his collar and attempted to
change the subject.
“Ah,
just a little side research, for the holidays, umm, Halloween, yes Halloween,
the theme for the window displays will be magical transformations!”
“Magical
transformations?” Carl put on a thoughtful gaze, “I suppose that might
be related to visual merchandising?”
“Yes,
Mr. William, in my business you have to come up with avant-garde ideas
to stay ahead!”
“Well
Terry, staying within the subject of mannequins I have a question. Remember
that brand new, one of a kind, Pamela series mannequin that was placed
in the main window?”
“Ye...Yes...Yesss,
Mr. William, I, I remember...”
“Well
Terry, I’d like to ask where that one of a kind mannequin is?”
“Right
where we left it, Sir.”
“That’s
strange, I checked just a few minutes ago and it seems to be missing, you
wouldn’t happen to know anything about it’s disappearance?”
“I,
Ummm, ummm...”
“I
just checked with the computer security logs, remember the ID badges employees
carry to get in and out through electronic locks?”
“Ah,
yes, Mr. William...” Terry began to get very nervous, he had forgotten
about his access badge used to unlock secure doors!
“Everytime
those doors are opened the time and badge number are logged by the computer.”
Carl leaned down, looking him in the eye. “They show that your badge was
used after-hours to open the doors to the rear loading docks. I repeat,
where is that mannequin?”
It
was Terry Thadowski’s turn to look Carl straight in the eye. “I know about
your powers Mr. William!”
“What
powers?”
“I
have video tape of you transforming Miss Eclaire into that mannequin, enough
proof that you’ll never be out of the public limelight, you’d never be
able to hide your powers!”
“OK
Terry, you have me; if it’s blackmail, what's your price. I’ll pay you
whatever you want for Pamela’s return and the tapes.”
“I
don’t want money or power, just for my fondest wish to come true!”
“And
what wish may that be?”
“I’ve
always had a desire, a desire so powerful that it drove me into visual
merchandising just so I could be around my greatest love, mannequins!”
Terry
paused, took a deep breath, a look of desire painted on his face as he
continued, “I’ve always wished I were a female mannequin!”
“A
girl mannequin?”
“Yes,
I’ve always felt that I was born the wrong sex, inside that I was a woman’s
soul trapped in a pitiful male body. But, if I were transformed into a
woman I would eventually age, my beauty withering away to nothing. But
as a mannequin I would be young and beautiful forever, wearing beautiful
clothes all day, shinny smooth plastic that would never age, immortal!”
Carl
rolled his eyes, sighed with relief and gave Terry his answer. “I can easily
do that, a piece of cake!”
“It’d
better be a piece of cake!” Terry blustered.
“Yes,
a piece of cake, indeed.” Carl smiled devilishly.
Suddenly
Terry found himself atop his desk, unable to move and feeling rather peculiar.
He felt moist, spongy and block shaped, his outside a layer of soft gooey
substance. Terry could taste and smell his new form, he felt smooth, sweet
and sugary, then came a rising panic upon the realization that he was a
slice of chocolate cake!
Carl
looked down at the piece of delicious looking cake, he smacked his lips,
the wonderful aroma of chocolate was making him hungry. The transformed
Terry was conveniently atop a small plate with a fork stationed alongside,
Carl picked up the plate in one hand and the fork in the other. He moved
his nose over the sumptuous chocolate delicacy, closed his eyes and smiled
as he inhaled the wonderful smell of rich dark chocolate.
Inside
the chocolate cake Terry’s soul screamed in mortal terror, suspended in
the air in front of the colossal mouth about to consume him. A giant fork
drew close and sliced through a part of him, then withdrew with a piece
of his substance stuck to its prongs. The titanic mouth slid open and the
fork moved towards the gaping maw. Terry’s mind shrieked in absolute panic,
the thought of being masticated and digested a horror beyond all endurance.
Carl
paused, the delicious morsel just inches away from his open mouth.
“Well
Terry, it looks like you got your wish!” Carl telepathed to the fear shrouded
Terry.
“No,
I wanted to be a mannequin, not a cake!”
“But
you changed your wish, you distinctly said “A piece of cake.” so I gave
you your wish, now you’re a piece of cake!”
“You
tricked me, I didn’t want that, please don’t eat me, please!!!!!!!!!!”
“You
should be very careful with what you ask for, you just might get it!” Carl
opened his mouth wider, “And my wish is to eat a nice piece of cake, and
I do love chocolate!”
“I’ll
do anything, I’ll give you the tapes and tell you were the mannequin is,
just don’t eat me!” Terry’s panic stricken mind cried out.
“Oh
well, I’m supposed to be on a diet anyway.” Carl thought out loud as he
put down the fork and plate, “Lucky for you, you didn’t ask to become a
fat free cake!”
Moments
later a very shaken and very human Terry rematerialized into his original
form; interestingly enough the experience had made him very co-operative.
Carl
teleported himself to the artist’s studio; sure enough, Pamela was in a
corner with several other mannequins. He reached out his hand and tapped
her shoulder.
“Rise
and shine, my love!”
“Carl,
what has been going on!” Pamela pouted as she stepped away from her base.
“I was having a great time in the display window until that store manager
came by one night and kidnapped me!”
“Stolen
not kidnapped, you were an inanimate object, remember.”
“Stolen,
kidnapped, doesn’t matter, whatever. That creep took me to an artist who
was modifying mannequins into fake marble statues, I was next in line!”
“I
know, you were destined to be on display in a Las Vegas casino I own.”
“Carl,
how did you know that?”
“Magic,
my love, magic...” He winked and planted a passionate kiss upon Pamela’s
lips, she hugged him and forgot...
Madame
Crooke was in her office running accounting software on her computer as
she balanced the temple’s books. She paused when she noticed a slight flash
of light coming from under the door, then muffled shouting. Puzzled, she
left the office; the noise was coming from the temple! She rushed to the
inner sanctum and almost fainted at the sight that greeted her, the glass
case on the dais was gone and the sculpture within had come to life! Two
upset and very naked women stood there with angry expressions on their
faces, when the Madame entered they simultaneously turned in her direction.
“I
don’t know who you are lady, but you’d better have a good explanation to
how we got here!”
The
Madame gulped and tried to explain...
The
catfight was quite spectacular!
The
head maid came immediately, another odd occurrence in the mansion, she
began to wonder if the place was haunted! Strange sightings and visions,
then all the new flower vases disappear, what now?
To
her astonishment the statue of the glass maid was back where it had been
originally!
“I
came to dust the furniture and I find another glass statue here!” The cleaning
maid spluttered as she waved her hand in the direction of the crystal servant.
“Master
William must have had a substitute installed that’s all, you called me
over for this?”
“I’m
sorry ladies, I forgot to tell you about the replacement figure.” Carl’s
voice spoke up from behind.
“Master
William, We didn’t hear you enter!”
“It’s
O.K., I sometimes have a habit of arriving without warning.”
“I’m
so glad you were able to procure a new glass figure, it was unfortunate
that the original was broken. We will be extra careful around the figure
in the future, we certainly don’t want a repeat of the disaster with the
first one!”
“There
is no need to worry about any future breakage!” Carl proclaimed, This glass
lady in made out of a new type of tempered glass that’s virtually unbreakable!”
“Master
William, even hardened glass can break, we will take great care around
the statue.”
“I
believe you will, thank you for your concern.”
Carl
dismissed the servants and turned to examine the beautiful glass figure.
“Well
Catherine, you’re back together again, I think its time for you to return
to your duties.” Carl telepathically addressed the glass maid.
“Oh
pleazee Mazter William, don’t change me back, I vant to stay statue forever!”
“Who
said anything about changing you back, I meant your duties as an end table
that’s all!”
“Oh
thank you, mazter William, I’ll be zee best statue you ever had!”
“And
don’t worry about any shattering experiences in the future. I changed you
into an enchanted glass that’s indestructible and unbreakable!” Carl winked
at her, “Remember if and when you ever wish to be restored to human form,
just think my name and I’ll be here.”
He
smiled and vanished, and like the Cheshire cat only his grin remained then
gradually faded away.
Carl
and Pamela stood on the sidewalk in front of the William department store,
window-shopping. Pamela sighed as she fondly gazed at the line of beautiful
female mannequins posed in the display window.
“I
had so much fun being in that window, to bad my stay had to be cut short.
At least they found a substitute mannequin for the spot where I was standing,
she even resembles me.” Pamela sighed again, “And to think my replacement
will never know the joy I felt as a mannequin.”
“Actually
your replacement is enjoying its experience.”
“Carl
stop fooling me!” That’s just an ordinary mannequin, it can’t think or
experience anything, its not someone under a magic spell like I was!”
Carl
put on a wide grin and said nothing; Pamela tilted her head and eyed him
suspiciously.
“Carl,
you’re not keeping something from me are you?”
“Well...
I can explain...”
“You’d
better!”
“I’ll
start from the beginning...” Carl replied.
“A
transsexual mannequin, now that’s novel! Pamela giggled, “Well, different
strokes for different folks!”
Carl
sighed with relief, Pamela not only understood but also agreed with his
course of action.
“Carl,
you will eventually restore that mannequin to human form, won’t you?”
“I’ve
left that up to your replacement, I’ll come by and check every now and
then, I will if it ever wants to return to human form.”
“We’d
better be going Pam, I have a few loose threads to fix and tonight I’m
attending a gallery opening, would you like to come?”
“Of
course, I always like a good social gathering.”
As
the two of them started down the street Pamela turned and waved at the
store’s display window and shouted, “Well, goodbye Terry, you’ll like your
new position and by the way you look absolutely marvelous! Bye!”
“Pam,
I found out something interesting on Terry’s computer when I was in his
office.”
“What
was that Carl?”
“I
found Internet web sites dealing with magical transformations, including
sites dedicated to fantasies about people turning to statues! Story and
picture archives, even message boards, all about statue fantasies!”
“Really
Carl, they sound like a progressive lot, maybe we should check them out,
share a few ideas.”
“I
confiscated a few printouts and emailed Terry’s bookmark file to my address,
we can visit them before the party tonight. I got a couple of great ideas
from the few stories I glanced at, Pam you’ll love them!”
“Well,
we’ll have to read them and then try out some of the fantasies for real!”
“Yeah,
we will at that...”
“Carl,
you said that tonight’s party was a gallery opening, what type of gallery?”
“The
art gallery is devoted primarily to sculpture, marble, bronzes and such.”
“You
know Carl, ever since my stint short stint as an ice sculpture I’ve thought
about how nice it would be to be on display in an art gallery or museum.”
“For
how long?”
“Oh,
for a few days, or a week maybe.”
“Well...
I’ve had a few ideas along that line too Pam, but we’ve been apart for
too long and I’ve been getting a little frisky, no, downright horny in
your absence.”
“You
know, Carl, I’ve started to feel the same way, statue existence is fun,
but its even more enjoyable if it's with someone you love!”
Carl
winked at Pamela, she replied by smiling and hugging him tighter.
Arm
in arm the contented pair strode down the boulevard into a wonderful future
together, a future filled with fun, adventure and of course transformations,
but that’s another story. And in this case their story was like a fairy
tale, they really did live happily ever after.