The Verdict

“I hate jury duty,” Jessica Lee said aloud.

She lay on her back on the bed of her hotel room. Aside from being barefoot (she had kicked off her high heels as soon as the door to her room had shut behind her), she still wore the professional business attire that she’d donned for the trial. A complete and total weariness blanketed her. After eight days of arguments, witnesses, evidence, and more arguments, tomorrow would bring the first day of deliberations. She wanted be done with it. She wanted to get back to her life.

At 28 years old, Jessica was an attractive woman, who normally had a very high energy level. She worked hard, played hard, ate well, exercised, and still occasionally partied on weekends. But in here, sequestered away from the world until the trial ended, she could do none of those things. And not doing those things drained her of her usual energy and high spirits.

She sighed and decided on her course of action for the evening: an overly long hot shower, then an uncharacteristically unhealthy room service order, then a premium movie, and then an early bedtime. It had been the same for the past eight nights, and it would continue to be the same for the next however many more.

Forty minutes later, wrapped in a thick fleece robe, Jessica exited the warm, steamy bathroom. She brushed out her long, wet hair and walked over to the bed. She sat down, brushed a few more strokes, and then lifted the phone receiver to her ear. When room service answered her call, she gave them her order, thanked them, and hung up.

Hardly two minutes later, a knock on the door startled her. Perplexed at the thought of the kitchen having prepared her food so quickly, she got up to answer it.

“Yes?” Jessica asked, peering through the peephole.

She saw the fishbowl-distorted features of a pretty young woman dressed in a blazer, blouse, and skirt. A hotel name badge adorned the woman’s lapel.

“Hello, Ms. Lee,” said the woman, leaning in slightly towards the closed door. “My name is Linda Jordan. I’m one of the assistant managers from the front desk. I’m so sorry to bother you, but may I have a word?”

“Um,” was all Jessica said, surprised by the visit and the request.

But she opened the door. Linda entered the room and immediately noticed Jessica’s state of undress.

“Forgive my intrusion, Ms. Lee. I know you must be exhausted from your long day, and I’m sure you just want to relax.”

Jessica looked down at herself and suddenly felt very exposed in just a bathrobe and bare feet. Still, she saw no reason not to play the gracious host as best she could.

“It’s no bother, Ms. Jordan,” Jessica said, closing the door. “What did you want to talk with me about?”

“Just this,” Linda said with a smile.

She reached out her hand, placing it directly under Jessica’s nose. Jessica started to take a step back, but she found herself up against a wall with nowhere to go. Before she could protest the invasion into her personal space, Linda snapped her fingers. The motion broke something she’d been holding that was the size of medicine capsule. Instantly, a thick vapor spread up and out to surround Jessica’s head.

“W-what?” Jessica said.

The room spun furiously around her, and she lost all strength and coordination. She tumbled towards the floor. But before she landed, she felt strong arms catch her.

“There, there,” Linda said, as she carefully dragged Jessica’s limp form across the room. “You’re all right. You’re fine. Just relax, and let me take care of you.”

Jessica’s mind was as loose and weak as her body.

“Okayyyy,” she said. “You can take care of meeee.”

When they had reached the bed, Linda hefted Jessica onto it with surprising strength, then propped her up on pillows against the headboard.

“What’s going on, Ms. Jorrrrdan?” Jessica asked.

“I’ll tell you in just a moment, my dear.”

“Okayyyy.”

Linda reached into a pocket and pulled out another capsule.

“One more dose,” she said, “and then we’ll be ready to go.”

She snapped her fingers again. The ensuing vapor engulfed Jessica, causing her to slump backwards and close her eyes.

After waiting several seconds for the mist to clear, Linda pulled two small plugs from each of her nostrils. Then she tapped a small bud in her ear.

“This is Swan-1. Access to Juror #10 achieved. Doses delivered. Brainwashing to commence. I’ll report again when objectives are met. Swan-1 out.”

She tapped the earbud again.

Jessica’s eyes fluttered open. She looked up at Linda, who smiled sweetly down at her.

“Brain...washingggg?” Jessica asked sleepily.

“That’s right, my dear. Brainwashing. I’m going to brainwash you. It won’t hurt or be unpleasant for you at all. And you won’t remember any of it when I’m done. But it will take a little while, so I need to get started.”

“Ohhhh. Okayyyy.”

Linda laughed pleasantly, and patted Jessica’s hand. Not understanding the implications of what was happening, Jessica laughed, too.



*****



Jessica breathed lightly and regularly. Though open, her eyes stared blankly ahead. When she spoke, her words came out slowly, but now without any slurring or undue drawl.

“My name is Jessica Lee. I am Juror #10 in the trial of People vs. Kristina Kinnerman. I am the foreperson of the jury. Until she releases me from her control, I must serve and obey Ms. Linda Jordan.”

Linda sat in the desk chair, facing Jessica. Beside her stood a hotel food cart with several uncovered dishes and an uncorked bottle of sparkling water on it. She absently rolled the cart back and forth with her foot, as she munched on a bit of dessert.

“Very good, Jessica,” she said after swallowing the food and wiping her mouth with a cloth napkin. “Please tell me what you think of the defendant and the evidence presented against her by the prosecution.”

“I think…”

At Jessica’s pause, Linda raised an eyebrow. Surely her subject knew the proper response after the regimen of intense mental conditioning she had just undergone. Linda herself had no doubts as to the quality of her own work, so despite her subject’s previously strong will, she expected there to be no problem.

“I think...the defendant is not guilty, and there is not enough evidence to prove otherwise,” Jessica said.

Linda sighed in relief. That was indeed the proper response from the subject.

“What about the specific allegations that Ms. Kinnerman works as an agent for the villain known as Ms. Mesmer?”

“I don’t think that Ms. Kinnerman works for Ms. Mesmer, or even knows her,” Jessica said. “I don’t think the prosecution has established that fact to any certainty.”

“How will you vote in the jury deliberations?”

“I will vote not guilty.”

“Will you allow yourself to be swayed by the other jurors?”

“No, I won’t allow myself to be swayed by the other jurors.”

“Will you do everything in your power to sway the other jurors to a not guilty verdict?”

“Yes, I will do everything in my power to sway the other jurors to a not guilty verdict.”

“Excellent,” Linda said. “You have done very well, Jessica. You should be happy with your progress tonight.”

Still staring blankly ahead, Jessica smiled dreamily.

“Now we just need to finish up our session,” Linda said. “When I leave here tonight, what are you going to do?”

“I am going to wake up from a strange dream, which I will quickly forget the details of. I will go about my normal business for the rest of the evening, making sure to get a good night’s sleep when I go to bed. Tomorrow, I will go to court and perform my duty as a juror in the trial.”

“Will you remember who I am or that I was here tonight?”

“No, I won’t remember who you are or that you were here tonight.”

“What if you see me in the future?”

“No, I won’t remember who you are or that you were here tonight, even if I see you in the future.”

“What will happen if I say the words ‘juror #10’ to you?”

“If you say the words ‘juror #10' to me, I will return to this extremely suggestible state of consciousness and obey all of your commands.”

“What if someone else says those words to you?"

"If someone else says those words to me, I will respond to them as normal, without reentering this state of consciousness or needing to obey that person."

Linda nodded at the subject’s completely accurate responses to her questions. She eyed the young woman who sat before her so passively and unaware, and then absently retrieved another bite of dessert from the food cart. She savored the sweetness of the morsel before swallowing it.

“And that is it, my dear. We are done with our work for the evening,” Linda said. “Look at that, I’m an hour ahead of schedule. Two hours, really, if I count the padded time I gave Ms. Mesmer for completion of this assignment. Damn, I’m good. I think I deserve a reward. A treat. Don’t I deserve a reward, Jessica? A treat for doing such good work and finishing early to boot?”

“Yes, Ms. Jordan, you deserve a reward. A treat.”

Linda laughed. She loved her job, especially the unerringly compliant responses of her brainwashed subjects. Standing up, she walked over to the bed and sat down on it next to Jessica. This particular subject was quite beautiful, which made Linda love her work all the more.

“My reward, Jessica, is you,” Linda said.

She ran a finger slowly up the length of Jessica’s bare foot, from heel to arch to ball to toe. Jessica trembled in response, but her smile grew wider.

“That’s right,” Linda said. “You remember the pleasure responses I used to condition you into obedience.”

She circled Jessica’s toes and then ever so slowly and gently retraced her path down the entranced woman’s sole. Jessica shuddered and let out a wavering sigh that lasted several seconds past when Linda withdrew her finger.

“Those responses will be your reward. They will be your reward for being so easy to brainwash and allowing me to finish my work so early. Enjoy them. And be vocal in your enjoyment.”

Linda took to Jessica’s foot again. Jessica arched her back and moaned loudly. Then, as Linda began to move up her body, her physical and verbal responses grew in intensity.

For the next two hours, the agent and her subject enjoyed their rewards….