Daniel's first day
Daniel was overjoyed to get the call.
"Hello, this is Lola Venus, publisher of the magazine that bears my
name," the soft British-accented voice said. "We've accepted your
application to be an associate editor."
"Thank you, ma'am," Daniel
answered. "When do I start?"
"Immediately, dear.
Tomorrow," was the reply.
And so, the next day, Daniel arrived at
the offices of Lola Venus, one of the most respected high-fashion
magazines in the world--second only to Vogue in reputation. He went to
the human resources department and met the vice president, a good-looking
middle-aged woman. After a quick orientation, she escorted him to his
desk...and, on the way, Daniel realized he didn't see a single male.
"Am I the only man in the
company?" he asked, half-expecting a laughing negative.
But, instead, he was told, "Oh,
yes, you are the first male Ms. Venus has ever approved in any position."
The HR head showed him how to log on to his computer and then said,
"There's a further orientation for editorial personnel. Don’t worry, you
don’t have to read anything. It’s just a short video followed by a little game.
You’ll love it. Just make sure you put on the headphones." With that, she
left.
Daniel looked around. All the women
seemed engrossed in their duties...and all of them seemed quite attractive,
capable of being models for the magazine themselves. Oh, well, might as well
see what this editorial orientation is all about. He clicked the icon and
the screen filled with the logo of the magazine. As he put the headphones on,
he heard the music coming through loud and clear. It was new-age music, the
sort of thing you’d hear in a spa or a meditation center. It was pleasant,
rather soothing really.
The logo of the magazine faded into an
image of the company owner, Lola Venus. Daniel recognized her straight away -
she’d been on enough magazines and TV shows recently that her image was almost
burnt into his mind. She smiled a dazzling smile and started speaking.
“Hello, and welcome to Lola Venus.
Congratulations on beginning the first step in your new career with our
magazine. This Virtual Venus program is designed to help ease you into your new
position and show you how to be the perfect employee. We hope you’ll find it a nice
place to work.”
The word ‘Nice’
hissed its way through the headphones, like a seductive whisper in Daniel’s
ear. It gave him a bit of a chill, but in a good way.
“In order to ensure you fit in, we’re
going to show you a series of scenarios that might come up during your employment,
and you’ll be asked to choose the appropriate response. Don’t worry, we’ve made
it very clear what the right answer is meant to be, so you won’t have to think
about it at all. Isn’t that nice?”
The whisper came again, filling
Daniel’s ears with that hushed, husky voice. It seemed a little unprofessional
to hear something like this at work, but the music was proving very
relaxing...it made it hard to criticize anything that was happening.
“The correct response to each scenario
will be highlighted in pink. The incorrect response will be highlighted in
blue. Remember, pink is right, and blue is wrong. It’s easy to remember because
pink looks so much nicer than blue. Ready to begin?”
Once again the word ‘Nice’
came through the headphones as Daniel saw the words ‘Yes Ma’am’ and ‘No thanks’
came up in pink and blue respectively. Well, might as well give it a go,
Daniel thought as he clicked on the pink option. That generated another
whisper. It really was starting to make him tingle.
The video transitioned to a beautiful
admin assistant typing away at her computer, the clacking of her fingernails on
the keys coming through crystal clear against the relaxing music. As the video
played, Daniel watched as Lola Venus approached the secretary holding several
sheets of paper.
“Joanne, how busy are you right now?”
Ms Venus asked.
“Oh, quite busy indeed Ms Venus,”
replied Joanne. “I’ve got the GWC report to complete, and then I need to
contact the modelling agency to sort out who’s available for next week’s
shoot…”
“Well I’m sorry to add more work to
your plate,” interrupted Ms Venus. “But I really need these letters copied in
triplicate, scanned and sent to the department heads, and I need it done now.
You will do it for me.”
The video froze on Joanne’s face as the
words ‘Do what Ms Venus says’ in pink and ‘Complain about your workload’ in
blue appeared on the screen. Daniel clicked the pink command, and the word ‘Nice’
once again filled his senses. The video started up again as Joanne, flashing a
winning smile, said “Yes Ms Venus, I will do as you say” and took the letters
away to be copied.
The next scenario played. Two women,
one black and dark haired, the other pale and blonde, both stunningly gorgeous,
were having a conversation.
“I was in a meeting with Ms Venus today,” the black woman was saying. “She gave me some tips on my beauty regime. Apparently keeping cucumbers on the eyes for 15 minutes can really help with hydration, as well as relaxation.”
“Are you sure, Makosi?” said the pale
woman. “I heard that 15 minutes is too long, and you’re only supposed to put
them on for 5 minutes at a time.”
The video once again froze, with two
options becoming available. ‘Ms Venus is always right’ in pink, and ‘Ms Venus might
be wrong’ in blue. It seemed to Daniel that the pink command seemed a bit
bigger than the blue one. Not by much, but just a bit. Shrugging, he clicked
the pink command, knowing that was the right one. Once again that wonderful
whisper of ‘Nice’ cut through the soothing music, filling his
head with such a lovely buzz. The video continued to show Makosi smiling.
“Don’t be silly, Hilda. It has to be 15 minutes. You know Ms Venus is always right.”
The training continued in that vein,
each scenario showing another aspect of office life, each one with a pink and
blue option. Daniel continued to pick the pink options, finding it easier to do
so each time, no matter how strange they might seem (‘I’m devoted to Lola
Venus’...‘Lola Venus knows what’s best for me’...‘Lola Venus is a goddess’...),
each time being rewarded with that whispered ‘Nice’, that tingly
sensation, that fuzzy-headed feeling. Each time the pink commands got bigger
and bigger, until he wasn’t even sure there was a blue option anymore.
Not that it mattered. It was so easy to just go for the right option. It was
almost as if he wasn’t even acknowledging what was being said anymore. It was
just a matter of waiting to click the pink and hear that reward of Nice.
Pink. Click. Nice. Pink. Click. Nice. Pink. Click. Nice.
And more and more his head felt heavier and heavier, as if filling with
something he couldn’t quite explain.
Finally, after what might have been ten
minutes or ten hours (he really had no idea at this point), the video switched
back to Lola Venus’s smiling face.
“Congratulations, you’ve completed your
employee orientation. Isn’t that nice? You will now report to my
office to begin your new life as my entranced employee. Obey.”
Daniel rose from his desk and,
following directions implanted by the program, soon found himself outside the
publisher's door. He knocked. "Enter, dear..." came the the lovely
voice he knew had to be obeyed. He did as he was told.
"Yes, yes, you will do very nicely," Lola
Venus said as she saw him. "I knew from your photo you were the perfect
first test of our new program." She stood and circled around him.
"But these clothes will not do. When you leave my office, you will awake
from trance, and go to the wardrobe department. They have instructions. From
now on, whenever I say Nice to you, you will repeat it with me
until you fall into trance. And if you see any orders in pink, you know they must
be obeyed. Go now..."
Daniel exited the office and went to
the wardrobe department. "Ah, Dani," said the French-accented woman
who met him there. "Ms. Venus has sent instructions for your new wardrobe.
Please strip."
"Strip?" Daniel asked. But
already his body was obeying, as he removed his tie, his jacket, his shirt, and
pants.
"All the way, darling," the
wardrobe mistress admonished. Blushing, Daniel removed his undershirt,
underpants, and socks. "Much better...and so good to see you are nearly
hairless! Ms. Venus did choose well." She handed him a pair of pink satin
panties and a matching camisole. "Start with these." Fumbling a bit
with the unaccustomed garments, Daniel got them on. Then came a pair of
knee-high, sheer nylon socks. "These will do for now," she said, as
he sat and pulled them on.
She handed him a white satin blouse,
cut in a man-tailored style...though the buttons were on the wrong side and the
collar seemed a bit long and pointed. She helped Daniel slip it on. Next were a
pair of tight, straight-leg pants; the cuffs ended above his ankles and the
zipper was on the side. Next was a matching jacket...tight at the waist.
"Sit down for the final touch,
darling," she said. She produced a pair of stiletto-heeled pumps and slid
them on his nylon-covered feet. "Stand, walk a bit so you get used to
them. Can't have you turning an ankle, can we?"
Daniel stood and discovered the shoes
were surprisingly easy to walk in, as though he had somehow been taught the
proper movement without knowing it. The wardrobe mistress touched up his face
with a bit of blush, pink lip gloss and a little mascara. "There, all set
to go back to work. We'll have a full set of similar outfits delivered to your
home. Welcome to Lola Venus, Dani!"
Daniel blushed. "It's
Daniel," he said.
"We'll see," she replied,
"we'll see...."
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