PIP/Overmind/It Begins

"Another one? How many of you are they willing to waste on me?"

"I can't move. Why can't I move?"

"I'm not allowing the signals to go from your brain to the rest of your body. Well, actually, I am allowing some signals to go through. Otherwise you wouldn't be speaking right now; or breathing for that matter. So how many of you agents am I going to have to deal with before your agency gets it in their minds that I am not going to allow them to meddle in my business?"

"Why are you asking me questions? Couldn't you just rip it from my mind?"

"Oh, but that would be too easy. There's another thing I'm curious about. Why are you so pretty? You agents are supposed to try to blend in. You're supposed look plain, ordinary . . . boring. So why are you pretty? Are you just a horrible agent? Maybe they need to make you a little uglier. I'm half tempted to rip your mind apart to get the answers I want. That's not the game I'm playing right now, however. So answer me this one question and I'll let you go. Why are you so pretty?"

"Maybe I'm just a narcissist. Maybe I just like my appearance so much, that I can't allow myself to look plain."

"Oh, I like this game. Hmm, let me think . . . no, that isn't it. Try again."

"What does it matter? You're going to have me kill myself anyway."

"Oh, is that what your agency has on me? That's not how I work. Well, actually that is how I work sometimes. I'm really not in the mood to kill you right now though. Let me tell you why I think you are so pretty. I believe that they chose the prettiest agent they had, allowed her to doll herself up to be as fetching as possible in the hope that her attractiveness would keep me from making her tear out her own intestines. How am I doing so far?"

"Well, if that's the goal of my agency, it appears as though it's at least partially effective."

"Don't give yourself too much credit. The fact that you're still alive is due predominantly to the fact that I am bored. That's also why I haven't bothered reading your mind yet. Guessing is its own fun. You're recording all of this aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm transmitting sound to a relay station. It is recording every word."

"All right then, maybe we can put an end to all this nastiness between myself and your agency. I'll give you the span of a week. During this week I will tell you what you want to know. Your little recording device can send it back to your people. In this way your agency will have the information they want on me, and I get a little amusement out of it."

"Ah, thanks for letting me move again."

"You're quite welcome. You can't exactly slowly strip if you can't move."

"Is that part of the deal now?"

"The deal will evolve as the week progresses. Now I've had several sordid affairs across the world in the time since I realize my power. What would you like to know about?"

• Ceg Uffern, UK - Saturday 22 July 1995