Digital Power

Stephi stood demurely by the door to the boardroom, face expressionless and eyes downcast. Her hands were clasped discretely behind her back, shoulders straight and breasts straining against her blouse. She stood patiently in total silence, despite the animated discussion taking place at the table a couple of metres away.

Waiting for any instruction to serve. Knowing that even a slight careless movement or upward glance would bring censure. Accepting the worthlessness and irrelevance that Alpha's noise-cancelling capabilities and close surveillance imposed on her psyche as she was casually isolated and excluded from everything around her.

She had not always been so patient, so compliant, nor so attentive to the needs of her bosses. When she'd first joined DT as a young professional in marketing two years before, she used to have dreams and ambition. She seriously believed that with hard work and intelligence she would be recognised and rewarded. That she was destined to be someone important.

But it did not take long for her to understand the way things were. That becoming a senior marketing manager was not to be her lot in life. Like most other young women in DT, her life was to take a different turn. She was recognised by Kane and rewarded with an offer she could not refuse. To be his PA, with the emphasis on personal.

At first, she had resisted, but with Alpha's help and Kane's training, she had been persuaded that there was no alternative. Or rather that the alternative was not worth contemplating. And since succumbing to the pressure, she had learned many new talents and had a countless array of experiences, albeit not what she had originally signed up for.

She had initially struggled and resented every new skill, every required behaviour and every imposed indignity. But she had eventually been brought into line and perfected them all, through a combination of reward and punishment, until now she accepted everything with resignation. Or more accurately with faked enthusiasm, as was required by her boss.

At least he was relatively fair and reasonably considerate, in comparison to some of the other executives. She had come to admit that life could be worse for a girl in DT. Sometimes he even allowed or invited her to voice opinions or to use her brain to solve problems. Always in private, but that was better than the conditions imposed on some of her colleagues. Recalling what she had seen and heard other girls having to do to survive at the hands of their bosses, she gave an imperceptible shiver of revulsion. And with that she acknowledged to herself that being Kane's executive plaything and eye-candy wasn't actually so bad.

'Three coffees. A latte and two flat whites.' Alpha's measured words suddenly echoed through the enforced silence in her head, the instruction loud and clear.

Galvanised to action, Stephi glided over to the coffee machine, swaying her tight skirt-encased hips attractively, in case one of the men at the table was watching. Making the coffees with studious precision and then placing them on the tray, carefully so as not to make any distracting noise, despite not being able to hear if she did.

In the early days, Alpha would continually guide and correct her. Comments and commands dropped into her silent consciousness, as if they were her own thoughts. By now she was proficient at most tasks, so Alpha seldom needed to correct her anymore. Kane demanded perfection in all she did, and she had no interest in failing him in front of the other executives sitting around the table. The consequences later would be unpleasant to say the least. Her concentration and attention to detail therefore matched his expectations.

These days Alpha only gave instructions, like he did then. 'Mr Aiden would like one sugar.' That was uncharacteristic of the DT Executive Chair, meaning that he was in a bad mood. It also implied she had better be even more submissive and flawless to avoid attracting his wrath.

She cautiously approached the three men sitting at the table, out of the corner of her eye noting the four holographic images of the other DT executives dialling in virtually. Having performed this service countless times, she knew Kane had the latte and as her boss would usually serve him first. But not today. . .

Alpha confirmed her intuition. 'Start with Mr Aiden. . . Smile. . . Posture.'

Balancing the tray on her left hand, crossing her legs appealingly and bending enticingly at the waist to emphasise her figure, she picked up the saucer, placed it carefully at his right hand, while glancing at him demurely with a polite smile. He wasn't looking at her, but rather was scowling at her boss. His left hand was draped in his lap, or rather in the shock of blue hair covering his dark suit trousers.

She knew not to look or acknowledge the flash of movement down there, nor even think about it, preferring to move away to serve her boss. Again, she presented herself pleasingly, bending from the hips, legs straight and poised, submissive smile and a quick glance in case he wanted something else. His imperceptible wink as he looked at her with his hand briefly sliding comfortingly up her stocking clad thigh, was all she needed to know that she had done alright.

She placed the final coffee beside a distracted and flustered looking man, who she knew as Oscar, the Head of Corporate. She then thankfully withdrew, to stand unobtrusively at her post. Waiting patiently in her imposed silence, with only her own thoughts revolving around her head.

As the men continued with their meeting.

Eventually ambient sound rushed into her head, like a wave washing over her. Initially confusing, but then normalising as she heard Kane's voice. But she was used to the recovery of her hearing after silence and no longer became as disoriented as she once had.

"Great work, Oscar. I particularly liked your perspective on our corporate strategy in the face of these virtual pandemics threatening the Algorithms."

"Thank you, Kane." The slightly nasal wheedling voice floated into her consciousness. The tone matching the pudgy body and soft round face of the Head of Corporate.

Hearing again was her cue and she raised her eyes to see Kane stand as he glanced toward the Chairman with a disapproving frown. Aiden took a little longer to stand, ignoring the other man while seeming somewhat distracted, before letting out a deep sigh, licking his lips and looking around as if focusing on the room anew. His hand emerged from his lap as he took a last pleasurable swig of his coffee, smiled contentedly, paused for a moment more, and then slid his chair back to stand up, as if nothing untoward had happened.

That was until a slightly dishevelled blue-haired woman crawled out from under the table, taking Aiden's hand to help her stand. She was dressed in a tight-fitting high-necked sweater accentuating her perky breasts, extremely short blue plaid skirt accentuating her generous hips, fishnet stockings and sky-blue heels to match her hair. She made a show of daintily wiping the corner of her mouth, before subtly turning and reapplying her lip gloss, all the while gazing coquettishly at Aiden. He on the other hand ignored her, rather turning to talk to the other two men.

"Aiden, we're facing a crisis. You really need to stay focused and leave the toys for later." Kane said with a slight admonishing tone in his voice and a pointed look at the woman who had emerged from under the table. "There were a few moments today when I had to step in for you. You seemed somewhat distracted."

Stephi felt emboldened by her boss' comment and looked at the other woman with poorly masked distain and a hint of pity. The former because she was just such a slag and the latter because she was Sir Aiden's PA.

"That's what you are here for, dear boy." The older man's gravelly voice, supremely confident, unconcerned and mildly amused. Silver white hair contrasting against his dark complexion, giving him the devil-may-care roguish look that he intentionally cultivated and used to great advantage. "I've done my time and will enjoy the perks when and how I like." A low chuckle from deep in his slightly portly belly.

Blue stared back at Stephi with a blistering look, no love lost between the two PAs. Stephi wasn't the one who cold only answer to the colour of her hair, not her given name Jaqui, on pain of Alpha reporting her and punishing her.

Blue was the one who had to spend the entire meeting suffering the impenetrable silence under the table, sucking diligently on the huge slab of meat and swallowing copious quantities of his seed. Pretending to not want to be doing anything other than taking his prick down her throat, so deep that it hurt. Resulting in her only being able to talk in a hoarse whisper for a while thereafter.

Managing to perform the act without gagging and retching, due to hours and hours of practice on her knees and in front of her mirror. Perfecting her doe eyes, her tongue and lip movements and her swallowing technique on the nine-inch monster replica of her boss' cock.

How dare the bitch judge her? The little upstart, acting all prim and prissy with her retro secretary look. She wasn't any better, because she also spent half the day on her knees in front of her boss. It was only that Kane was more suave and more discrete about it.

The men were leaving the room, so the PAs had to put their petty squabbles and acid looks aside to follow.

"Oscar, I believe you have a new recruit joining today. Gorgeous little thing according to her profile." Kane said with an imperceptible smile.

"Yes." Oscar replied with a grin. "What about her?"

"I have a gap this afternoon at 4. Send her up to meet me. I'd like to induct her on executive expectations."

"Sure thing, Kane. Just leave something for me when you're done." Oscar shuffled off with a chuckle.

Neither Stephi nor Blue reacted outwardly to the exchange, but each thought back with disquiet to her own difficult process of induction.

The two men had just completed their lunch in the Executive Dining room, during which they had continued their ongoing discussion about the state of the company, the current financials and the political manifestos being touted by the various political groupings that they were supporting. The latter having some bearing on the planned general election that would be held and the approach the sophisticated Algorithms would take to influence voter choice.

The Data Sharing Agreement of 2032 between the major Tech Corporations had defined the new operating modalities and specified clearly defined boundaries for the companies, providing limited competition in their established markets. There was intense rivalry and incursions by start-ups in new technologies, but these too were largely dominated by the big players, with smaller companies being bought out before they could make too great a mark.

The equity gap just had got bigger and bigger, because with the ability to sub-consciously influence populations these oligarchs created the discourse. And they determined the mass response of the voting public who had increasingly become dependent upon the Algorithms to make decisions. This understanding combined with similar triggers, threats, coercion and bribery of politicians ensured politics was controlled, all while espousing the strengthening of free will and personal choice.

As they walked into Aiden's large corner office Kane was chuckling at the irony of the purported differences between the political parties, when they were actually quite marginal and largely irrelevant. Both of them knew that the Algorithms would determine the outcome of the election, and in terms of economic and social policy, it would serve the interests of the elites and the large Tech companies.

"Much like our pretty little assistants." Aiden smirked. "Obedience and servitude."

Stephi and Blue were standing quietly beside opposing couches, facing each other across a low wooden coffee table, espressos already prepared and waiting in their hands at Alpha's instruction. Kane reclined beside Stephi, leaving her to hold the saucer as he took a sip from the cup, before returning it for her to hold like a piece of living furniture.

"True. But you don't seem to use Alpha much to ensure her compliance." Kane responded, watching Blue as she dropped gracefully to her knees beside Aiden, as expected when he had flopped onto the other couch coffee in hand. She knelt there, knees a foot apart, sitting on her heels with her hands clasped in the small of her back, looking more like a slave girl than a PA.

Aiden ran his hand possessively through her hair as he replied, a grin breaking his stern features. "I guess I'm just old school. There's nothing more enjoyable than physically disciplining a young female to ensure her enthusiastic obedience, or to punish any resistance. To slowly break them down purely using good old-fashioned pain and threats. I love watching the resistance slowly extinguish from their eyes with the repetitive use of carrot and stick. And then to rebuild them to suit my preferences." His fist gripped her blue hair and turned her face towards his. "Very effective. Isn't it, my girl?"

"Yes. Sir. I live to serve. And to please." Her smile was clearly forced, and the words instructed, but she tried to put as much eagerness into her voice as she could. It was only her eyes that betrayed her anxiety, staring pleadingly up at Aiden. Hoping that she had performed to his expectations.

"Why don't we show Kane the consequence of your last indiscretion?" He twisted her around on her knees, so that she faced away from them and indiscreetly pulled the hem of her skirt up to her waist. Her pantiless backside framed by black garter straps and fishnet stockings, was covered in fading welts from an extended session of corporate corporal punishment. "Tell us what you learned from your correction, Blue."

Looking at them over her shoulder, face flushed with embarrassment at her exposure, she whispered. "I must always be perfect for my boss." Then a contrite expression pasted on her face. "I spilled your drink because I was not paying attention." Finally, she declared louder and with more conviction. "Mistakes are not acceptable in a personal. . ."

"And the fact that I slapped your arse is no excuse." Aiden interrupted her with a sadistic sneer and a slap on her tender backside, extracting a quiet sigh from the kneeling woman. "I knew she was pouting, even though she hid it. I made her entertain me with one of the new interns. As if the girl was beneath her. . . Need to keep them on a short leash, otherwise they'll think you're soft. Isn't that right, Blue?"

"Yes, Sir. I deserved everything I got, Sir." Her face a picture of determination overlain on her suppressed misery.

He then pulled her back around, her skirt still hitched up around her waist presenting her exposed crotch to the room, with its neatly trimmed strip of blue hair.

Turning to Kane he said with a self-assured chuckle. "My tastes in female subjugation were formed in the days before this new technology, when we used more traditional means. Now days, girls are so sheltered and naïve to the ways of the world, that a little harsh encouragement goes a long way." He concluded with a wry smile. "Although Alpha definitely has its place in ensuring the discretion, security and capability of our playthings."

Looking back down at the imperceptibly trembling woman kneeling next to him Aiden smirked. "In fact, I'd bet that Alpha told her how to respond in the last few minutes. . . Am I right?" Then before she could respond he added condescendingly. "Or did you come up with those words all by yourself, my dear?"

She nodded, simpering softly. "Yes, Sir. Alpha helped me."

The reality was that Alpha had orchestrated her entire reaction, providing her script, instructing her behaviour and guiding her expression. She hated that she listened, not just because she had to, but because she knew that the Algorithm would guide her better than she would herself. Alpha wouldn't be influenced by her emotions, her fear and her shame.

So, she followed the instructions as best she could, while humiliation and anxiety flooded her body. At times she wished that Alpha would just turn off her emotions, rather than exacerbate them with the feelings of helpless engendered by obeying a machine.

"Our girls need a strong guiding hand to teach them to be better, more compliant and more accomplished." He released Blue's hair and patted her head. "I like to take a more active role in that instruction, but then again I have more time now as Chair. I'm sure Blue appreciates the attention she gets from me." He said rhetorically. A brief flash of panic clouded her eyes at the mention of her name, before Alpha sagely told her not to respond but rather to 'smile encouragingly' and 'nod in agreement'.

"You tech-savvy guys let Alpha do all the hard work." He teased Kane, who had been watching the entire spectacle with an inscrutable expression, before concluding magnanimously. "But then, you have a lot on your plates and so little time. . ."

He left the sentence hanging, with the obvious inuendo that the younger generation hadn't come through the ranks in the tough old days, when men needed to be men and didn't have access to all this technology to get things done. Kane had heard it all before and chose not to rise to the bait. Rather he enjoyed sparring with his older mentor and decided to push back on the subtleties of using Alpha.

"You're half right as usual, you old goat. There are those that use Alpha's brute force to ensure compliance, a little bit like your paddle." Kane's playful smile diffused any perceived insult at his words.

"But I like to use Alpha in more cerebral and sophisticated ways. By creating cognitive dissonance in a young female who is experiencing actions that she thinks contradict her beliefs or sense of herself." As he said this, his hand drifted up Stephi's stocking clad thigh and under her short skirt, with no outward response from the woman standing primly beside his couch.

"With Stephi, Alpha and I helped her reconcile this seeming contradiction by changing her ideas and values to become more aligned with those I expect from her and the functions she is required to perform." He spoke as if the female object of his philosophy was not standing beside him, while she gave no indication that she saw anything remotely inappropriate in his discourse.

"Using a female's own emotional makeup, her decision making and her dependence on the Algorithm against her, makes their subjugation so much sweeter." Kane's passion for the subject was clear from the sparkle in his eye. "It's sublime to watch as they rewire their own world view to accommodate the decisions they're being forced to make and the things they're being forced to do."

On her part, Stephi listened attentively. Acquiescent, knowing that everything he said was true. She had originally been put in very difficult situations, first groped and soon thereafter forced into sexual activities that she didn't want and would never have freely considered. But it was also made clear that she couldn't leave DT, unless she wanted to become redundant, irrelevant and possibly. . .

She had come to see that the threat of non-compliance was so abhorrent, so final, so systemic, that she couldn't even contemplate the alternative. So, she accommodated Kane, despite the revulsion at what she was forced to do. She had hated him, the company and the system. But grew to despise herself even more for her weakness and the way he made her body feel. Because Kane knew how to arouse her, through her natural response and her shame.

Over time, Alpha explained to her that she had no alternative and that this wasn't so bad. This was to be her lot in life, so she should make the most of it. Others had it much worse. She was a gorgeous woman, who men would obviously want to enjoy. It was actually a compliment and it was her role as a personal assistant to provide for all the personal needs of her boss. He had chosen her, so she was dutybound to serve.