AR Archive : After the Pandemic

Chapter 4
The Therapist

Chapter Description: A particularly dark and twisted first-person view tale of a corrupted therapist who faces a tough decision. Contains male/female mental AR, lots of hypnosis and some sexual elements.

The Therapist

The room was brightly coloured, the furniture soft and inviting. Toys overflowed from a chest in the corner, a doll and Mr Potato Head left out from earlier. It was an office designed to put my clients at ease. There was no desk between us and no stereotypical couch for them to lie down on. I wasn’t that kind of therapist, some psychoanalyst in the mould of Freud. I sat on a chair facing my clients, or right next to them. I wanted them to feel safe here, to feel comfortable with me. But the woman sitting in front of me didn’t look comforted by the room at all.

She was probably mid-twenties, it was in the file somewhere, but I was focused on her, not some paperwork. Sat cross-legged on the wide pale yellow seat she clearly showed the mannerisms of a small girl rather than a grown woman. She fidgeted, played with strands of her long blonde hair, currently in quite childish looking pig-tails. She didn’t want to make eye-contact with me, clearly didn’t want to engage at all. While her haircut was appropriate for a little girl, the rest of her attire was not. Her short-sleeved shirt was just plain red and her short jean shorts didn’t suggest any age. She also wore sandals that could have belonged to her before she had the virus.

“Mary, can you tell me why you have such a frowny face?” I asked her gently.

She scowled deeper. Possibly she hated the condescending tone I used, the way I always spoke to patients with such young mental ages. Mary had the mentality of a three year old now. But, like many virus victims, the reduction in mental abilities had not fully reduced her behaviour and expectations as well. That was why therapy was very common for the regressed patients, to help them adjust to their new lives, to be happy as small children again.

Mary pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in them, hiding from me.

“Are you angry with me? Or with your Daddy for bringing you here?” I pressed on.

She looked up, finally giving me eye-contact. But she looked very upset.

“Not my daddy!” she snapped.

“You mean Robert?”

A sharp nod. “Wobert my boy-fwiend. He’s not Daddy!”

“Well, he’s not your birth father, no. But, he takes care of you doesn’t he? Makes sure you’re well fed and warm and safe?”

She shrugged. “Kinda…”

“I think you look pretty healthy. Do you think you can still take care of yourself? Can you cook yourself dinner, use the stove, drive the car to the store for food?”

Mary frowned again, but she shook her head in agreement. “Too widdle,” she admitted.

“So Robert takes care of you, like a Daddy.”

“Not Daddy,” she muttered more quietly.

I looked back at the notes I’d made from my interview with Robert. He was very worried about Mary. He loved her, but she still wanted to be treated like a grown-up. That was very common among the newly regressed. She insisted on wearing adult clothes. She had major issues with being left at the daycare centre he enrolled her at because she had modesty issues. She wouldn’t use a potty seat with anyone else around, threw a massive tantrum when they tried to take her shirt off so she wouldn’t make it a mess during finger painting. She also couldn’t make friends, wouldn’t accept other little girls on her mental level. She wouldn’t accept Robert as her Daddy.

“Do you like daycare?” I asked her, changing tack.

“No!” she snapped.

“Why not?” I asked, feigning innocence.

“Dey tweat me wike a dumb widdle baby!”

“Well that doesn’t sound good,” I agreed, much to her surprise. “How do they do that?”

“Wan’ me to do tinkles ‘nd poos in a baby potty!”

“Wow, and they don’t make the other kids do that?” I asked.

She hesitated, then said, “Yeah. But they dumb babies! Dey wike bein’ nakey and doin’ tinkles in the potty!”

“They like that?”

She nodded emphatically.

“Boy, sounds like they’re pretty lucky then,” I commented.

Now Mary looked shocked. “Lucky?” she asked.

“Yeah, sounds like they’re happy being little. Too bad you’re so unhappy. It must be hard, not having any friends to play with,” I suggested.

I could tell I’d hit a nerve.

“Dun wan dumb-dumb fwiends,” she huffed.

“But Daddy wants you to have friends. He wants you to be happy, like the others,” I urged her.

“Daddy… Wobert, wants a stupid pwincess. He wants me to dwess all widdle,” Mary explained.

“I think he just wants you to fit in, so you can play with the other girls. Do you really think Daddy wants to hurt you?” I asked earnestly.

Mary bit her lip for a moment, then shook her head.

“So why don’t you try it his way for a bit?”

“Dun wanna look dumb. Lookit me. I big. I gwown-up,” she insisted, lifting her arms high in the air as if to show off her physical size.

“Well I don’t see a grown-up honey. I’m sorry, but I see a little girl playing dress-up. Daddy doesn’t want you to have to pretend, that’s all.”

Mary didn’t like this at all of course. She didn’t like me calling Robert her Daddy, didn’t like being told she looked like a little girl.

“Why don’t you let me try something that I think will really help you be happy. Would you be willing to try to be happy?” I asked her.

“How?” she asked, looking unsure.

“It’s just a little relaxation exercise,” I told her. She blinked and I could see the confusion on her face. I’d used words that were too big for her, words she’d lost along with so much of her vocabulary with her intellectual regression. She wanted desperately to be treated like a grown-up, but her mind just wasn’t up to it anymore.

“Just a little game to help you feel happier,” I explained more simply. “Will you play for me?”

Mary was obviously excited by the idea of a game. While she desperately wanted to act like an adult, her mind really was that of a small child and she couldn’t hide her excitement at playing a game.

“Okay,” she finally said.

“Good girl!” I praised. “Now I need to sit up straight, put your feet flat on the floor,” I directed.

She did as she was told, already following my directions to the letter.

“Okay, now hold your arms out in front of you, palms of your hands facing in. And I want you to imagine there are magnets in your hands and they’re being pulled closer and closer together. Really feel them pulling together, very slowly, but so powerfully. The harder you try to keep your hands apart, the stronger the magnets become, the more they are pulled together. Go ahead and try to keep them apart, but feel that they’re just being pulled more and more.”

I watched her begin to really focus on her hands, really watching them as the indeed moved slowly closer together.

“Good girl. Feel those hands pulling closer. And now I’m going to tell you something very important. Your imagination is so good, so strong, it’s done something magical. The magnets aren’t just imaginary anymore. They’re real. You can’t stop your hands. And when they touch, when they come together, something even more magical will happen. You’ll drop into the most relaxing, most peaceful state of rest. You won’t be able to help it at all. It will just be instant, unstoppable.”

Mary’s eyes widened, but she said nothing and she didn’t put her hands down. They kept moving together, even faster now, as she probably tried to resist but gave into the suggestion that this would only increase the power of the magnets. Her hands were very close to touching when I grabbed them and forced them sharply together. For an instant there was total shock on her face, in her eyes. Then I commanded, “Deep sleep!” and her whole face went slack, her eyelids dropping shut, her shoulders sagging and chin falling limply to her chest.

“Good girl, Mary,” I cooed to her. “You’re doing such a good job playing the game, getting so nice and relaxed, so peaceful and open for me.”

She murmured softly.

“And now we’re going to take you even deeper into this peaceful place, just the most happy and relaxing place you can imagine. Just picture it in your mind now, see yourself there, in that perfect place where you are totally safe and happy. Can you feel it? Are you there now?”

“Yeth,” she whispered after a few seconds.

“Good girl. Doing so well, being such a good girl for me. Now, I’m going to start counting down from ten, and with each number, we’re going to go deeper into this relaxing, peaceful state…”

Ten minutes later I had Mary deep in trance, ready to accept my suggestions. This was the real reason people brought their new little ones to me. I was a master of hypnosis. The caregivers gave me a list of the behaviours causing problems and I removed them. They also often gave me a list of behaviours they wanted to add in. Sometimes it was cute things like thumb sucking or needing a security blanket or teddy bear to cuddle. More often it was making them accept their carer as a true Mummy or Daddy, wanting cuddles and love from them.

“Mary, can you tell me, is there someplace you put things to keep them safe?”

The woman whispered, “Yeth.” Her chin was still resting on her chest, her whole body limp as a wet noodle.

“I want you to picture that place for me. See it like you’re there. Describe it to me.”

She paused a moment, then said, “Is in my woom. Is a box. Wobert give it to me, when I was bigger. I hide it under da bed.”

“And you put things in the box so no one can find them, so they’re safe?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Good. Now picture that box sitting open before you, sitting on the floor of your room, nice and safe. It’s totally empty though. It’s empty and we need to fill it up. We need to put some things in there to help you be happier, help you be a good girl. You want to be happy, don’t you?”

“Yeth,” she agreed.

“That’s right. But there are things in your mind that are stopping you being a happy girl, they’re things that don’t belong in a little girl’s mind, things that get in the way now. They’re big girl things. Even though you like them, they just cause problems, and we need to put them away for now. But you don’t have to be scared, because they aren’t going to get lost, they’ll be safe, in your special box, in your safe place, to be used later. You know everything you put in the box will be safe. Isn’t that right?”

“Yeth,” she agreed quietly again.

“So, let’s start by putting your Daddy’s grown-up name in the box. Little girls shouldn’t be calling Daddy by their first name after all. I want you to picture that bit of knowledge, that memory slipping out of your head, tickling its way through your ear. You feel that?”

Mary let out a little giggle, like she was really being tickled. Her body twitched, her head bobbing up for a second, then going limp again.

“That’s right, so tickly. And when it comes out of your ear, it looks like a floating, shiny, golden ball of light. And you can see that orb of light float down through the air and into the box in front of you, where it is nice and safe, but it’s no longer in your mind. It can’t get in the way anymore. And now the only name in your head for Daddy, is Daddy. It’s the only name you have for him. And more than that it feels totally natural, because there is no other name for him. Once the pretty ball of light went in the box, you forgot what it was. It’s big girl stuff, but that’s all you know about it. Once it’s in the box, it’s totally forgotten,” I told her.

“Now, tell me what’s your Daddy’s name again?” I prompted.

“Daddy,” she murmured right away.

“Good girl. Now, I think another big girl thing that’s getting in the way is feeling like little girl games are silly. But being silly is lots of fun! Big girls don’t like being silly, that’s the problem. So now we’re going to take that need to be big, to avoid silly little girl things and we’re going to put it in the box too. Just feel that need to act grown-up, that feeling of shame at acting silly, just tickle through your ears, see that shining golden orb float into the box, safe but forgotten.

“Isn’t that a huge relief! It’s like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. You feel so much happier now, so free,” I went on.

I saw that Mary did have a slight smile as I told her that. It was clearly working and she wasn’t resisting the suggestions at all.

“So next time you’re at daycare or at the park and you see other little girls playing silly games, what will you do?” I followed up.

Her smile grew broader. “Pway da siwwy games,” she answered.

“That’s right, because it’s so much fun to be silly, isn’t it?”

“Siwwy fun,” she echoed.

“Yes, you’re feeling so good now. It’s lovely putting the big girl things in the box, nice and safe and out of the way. And now we need to put something else in there. We need to let your modesty, your need for privacy, go into the box. It’s that awareness of your body being exposed, that feeling you need to cover up. We need you to feel comfy using the potty seat. After all it’s a silly thing to do, and we know that silly things are so much fun for little girls like you.

“So now feel all that awareness of how you’re dressed, that sense of modesty, just slip away. Daddy will decide how you’re dressed, Daddy is smart, Daddy loves you and will dress you all pretty. And when it’s time to use the potty at daycare, when it’s time to be nakey, there won’t be any shame, any worry at all, it will just feel nice and free and comfy.

“Feel that modesty leaving your ears, see the orb floating down, filling the box right up, so it shines like a bright light is inside of it. And we need to close it up, put the lid on top of it. Can you see that? Is the lid on top of the box now?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Good, now we need to do one more thing. We need to lock it up nice and tight, all safe and sound. So picture a lock on the box, a nice big metal lock. And who can keep the key to that lock, keep it all nice and safe?” I asked her.

“Daddy,” came her instant reply.

“Of course! Daddy will keep it all nice and safe. So picture Daddy holding the key now, putting it into his pocket. And all the big girl things are safe with Daddy, but only he has the key. You can’t have those things back until Daddy gives you the key, when you’re bigger, when you need them again and they aren’t just getting in the way.”

I watched her nod softly once again, then I began counting her up out of the trance. It took a minute to wake her up. I always enjoyed this part, seeing the fruition of my work.

Mary’s eyes opened and she blinked away some tears that had formed from her state of total relaxation. She looked at me with better eye-contact than before and the look of anger was gone. She looked neutral now, just wondering what was going to happen next.

“Well you did a great job for me Mary,” I told her brightly. “You’re such a good girl, I’m sure Daddy is very proud of you.”

Mary grinned, no objection to Robert being called her Daddy this time. She grinned and nodded, her pigtails bouncing. “Daddy’s pwoud,” she agreed.

“Now, I can go and see if Daddy is ready to take you home, but while you’re waiting would you like to play with some of the toys?” I said, gesturing to the toddler toys in the corner. “I know they’re a bit silly, but I thought you might enjoy them,” I added.

Mary gazed over at the toys and her eyes lit up. “I wike bein’ siwwy!” she announced. “C’n I pway with the dowwies?”

“Of course you can honey, but actually before you play I think it would be nice to change you into a prettier outfit for Daddy. I don’t think those big girl clothes look too comfy on you.”

Mary looked down at her clothes, seeming to consider this. “Umm, I ‘unno,” she said.

“Well how about this skirt?” I asked her, pulling out the very frilliest, bright pink skirt. It was something only a toddler would wear, but sized for a grown woman, for virus victims with the youngest of mentalities.

Mary’s eyes lit up and she nodded and reached for the skirt instantly. “Daz so pweety!” she exclaimed.

I chuckled. Her old mentality saw the dress and no doubt instantly thought it was the most childish, silliest thing she could wear. But the suggestions now hard-wired into her brain made anything silly just delightful and irresistable. So when she saw the silly skirt, she wanted badly to have it on, to be silly, be a good little girl.

“Okay, would you like me to get you changed into it for Daddy then?” I asked, pulling the skirt back away from her reaching hands.

She nodded, accepting the need for adult help.

“Okay, let’s get these sandals off first, and then the shorts,” I said, watching her stand there nibbling the tips of her fingers and gazing expectantly as I undid the button on her jean shorts and slipped them down, revealing her panties.

“Okay, and now that big girl top too. That won’t match the pretty skirt at all,” I said, directing her arms into the air.

She made no complaint as I slipped her shirt over her head, leaving her in bra and panties. Finally I said, “Well we can’t really have that on you, bras are for big girls.”

Mary looked down at her bra felt it experimentally. She didn’t complain about being stripped, instead, as soon as I identified the bra as being something for big girls, she declared, “Wan’ it off!”

“Of course,” I agreed, unclasping the bra and letting it drop to the floor.

Mary stood there with her bare breasts hanging out right in front of me. She didn’t move to cover them up, didn’t give a hint of concern at her exposure. She just waited while I slipped the skirt onto her.

“There we go!” I announced once it was on. “All dressed up for Daddy. You like your new outfit?” I asked.

Mary stood there still bare chested and barefoot in the silliest, the most juvenile of skirts. She spun around and grinned ear to ear.

“Mawy awll pweety!” she announced.

“You sure are! Now, why don’t you play with those silly toys while I get Daddy.”

She nodded and went straight to the toy corner. That’s where Robert found her when I led him into the room. He actually gasped at seeing her creeping around on her hands and knees, bare boobs hanging free, chattering to a Barbie doll like it was real.

“Oh Mary, you’re adorable,” he gushed.

Mary beamed up at him, then rushed over, pulling him into a cuddle and telling him, “Daddy I gotta dowwy ‘nd a pweety skiwt!”

Robert just about cried with joy when she called him Daddy, and so eagerly. He closed his arms around her bare body and rubbed the back of her head. “Yes sweetie, I see that. It’s a very pretty skirt. Would you… would you like to go home wearing it?”

Robert had hesitated in asking the question, afraid to push her too far. But Mary’s answer was instant.

“Uh-huh!”

“She’ll wear what you want her to from now on. So if you’d like it, here’s her shirt,” I said, handing him the discarded clothes.

Robert looked at it a moment, then at the young woman now holding his hand, ready to go, totally unconcerned with what she was wearing. Robert slipped the shirt into his bag. “I don’t think you need this for a trip home,” he said to Mary, leading her towards the door.

An hour ago Mary would have thrown an absolute fit, being led by the hand, being talked down to so obviously and worst of all, being taken outside in full public view half naked with her boobs bouncing free for all to see. She would have screamed bloody murder. But down she sucked on her thumb and let Daddy lead her right out the front door that way without a single complaint, without a flicker of concern on her face.

I watched them go, watched Mary padding barefoot down the front stairs and along the footpath. She smiled and pointed at various things that caught her interest, oblivious as her Daddy led her across the street to their car, then buckled her into the back. Another happy customer.

Chesterfield Mall was nowhere near my office, but that suited me. It was better to do this work, my second job, away from the area where I worked and lived. It just felt safer to me, though perhaps that was false comfort. My second job was not what you’d call legitimate. But boy, did it pay well.

The mall was busy this afternoon, filled with teens hanging out after school, at home mums taking their kids to shop after picking them up from school, office workers on flexible hours or taking a late lunch break. I sat on one of the many benches placed throughout the mall to cater for the people, usually men, who had to wait while their spouse did some shopping. I scrolled through my phone, looking bored, looking like I was waiting for someone. I had a bag from the supermarket in front of me. I always did a little shopping, to look legitimate, to look like a fit in.

My mark walked past about ten minutes after I arrived. This was normal, this was his routine. That’s why I positioned myself where I did. Once I learned his routine, it was all about finding the right place to execute the plan. Obviously a mall wouldn’t work as it was way too public and covered by cameras. But it was a good place to pick up the mark, a place he was unlikely to make me, to notice just one of hundreds of busy shoppers.

His name was Dan and he managed a small electronics store just down the street from the mall. The thirty-something man came to the mall most afternoons to grab a healthy smoothie from one of those juice shops. After that his routine varied, so this was the best place to catch him. I didn’t move when he passed me the first time, I knew where he was headed, knew he’d come back by me in a few minutes.

In the old days if you wanted to get rid of someone you had to contract a hit-man. That was a pretty serious and final step with obvious consequences if you got caught. But with the virus things had changed. Need a witness to be unable to testify? Want your abusive spouse neutralised? Want to inherit their fortune right now? No longer was murder the only way to solve those problems. Now the person could suffer a sudden attack of the most virulent and fast-acting form of the virus, leaving them intellectually incapable of testifying, or reducing their legal status to a dependent, handing over their wealth to the erstwhile partner.

One way to accomplish that was with a booster of course. But that was the most expensive option. That involved risks because the government kept close control over boosters of course. It also required physical force be used to apply the booster since the mark clearly would know exactly what was happening.

That left the other method, my specialty, hypnosis. There were rumours the state authorities had their own special programme, able to be administered by anyone with no expertise. But these rumours weren’t widely known and I certainly wasn’t going to advertise my competition. So instead people turned to me to help them with their little problems. They were always so keen to assure me they’d never have considered murder of course, but this was different, this wasn’t so bad, just a nice fresh start.

I always nodded a lot, helped them assuage their guilt, but really I didn’t care what their self-justifications were. Whatever they had to tell themselves, that was fine with me. I was in it for the cash, though I always did my best to at least make sure the mark was happy at the end of it. I really owed them at least that much.

The woman who contacted me this time, through an intermediary of course, I survive on referrals in this business; wanted to cut short what could have been a messy divorce. It was probably the most common reason people came to me. Erin claimed she just wanted to avoid a custody battle over their eight-year old son, Matt. But I suspected control of the family house and their other assets were factored into her thinking as well.

“I don’t want him to be hurt,” she told me when we met at a cheap little pub forty minutes drive from my house. “I want him to be happy, really truly happy,” she had insisted.

“Of course,” I assured. “You care for him.”

She looked really anguished and I was worried she might back out at any moment, but thankfully she proceeded.

“I really do. I would love for us to stay together, but he’s not interested in me anymore. We haven’t had… relations, in I don’t know how long. A couple weeks ago I happened to find his e-mails left open on his phone…”

Yeah right. All women snooped.

“And he had a bunch from this woman he knows from his Toastmasters group. I… I have a pretty good idea of what’s been going on.”

“I’m truly sorry,” I lied to her.

“Thank you. Anyway, I can’t really see any other way around it. So, I talked it over with a friend and she said she knew someone, who knew someone who might be able to help, and… well, here we are.”

Referrals, they really work in this business. That’s why it’s important to get it right, every time.

“Did you want him to still be part of the family, or will he be going to foster care?”

“Oh I couldn’t do that to him! No, Matty needs his father, well, he needs him to stay part of the family.”

“Understood. What age were you thinking?”

“Well I suppose eight would be best, like Matty, so they can be buddies. I think Dan would like that,” she mused.

I had to frown at that. Eight wasn’t feasible, it was much too old.

“I’m afraid that’s not a workable age for me. There’s too much risk of them retaining memories and understanding of what’s happened to them at that age. The oldest I can safely do is three. So you need to really consider if you can handle that.”

Of course she hadn’t been happy with that news. I could see she was considering her options, wondering if it was the right choice. If they were going to back out, that’s usually when it happened. But I couldn’t take the risk of leaving them too old. This wasn’t like the virus, it wasn’t guaranteed to be permanent. There was a small risk of them recovering memories or intellect. The younger they went, the less the risk.

“I… I suppose three would be okay then,” she had finally agreed, just when I thought she might walk out.

“Okay that’s good, I can work with that. Now, what kind of boy do you want him to be?” I asked her next.

“I’m sorry?”

“It’s not just mental age I can change. The whole personality if malleable. Do you want him loving and docile? A quiet, well-behaved little boy? Or a wild, energetic, getting into everything toddler?”

“Oh, well, I mean of course I want him to be loving. I just… I mean I don’t want to change who he is too much…”

That always made me need to suppress a laugh. They didn’t mind wiping their partners’ brains of every intelligent, complex thought, but god forbid we change their personality a bit. Of course some people leapt at the chance to alter their target, but they were the minority.

“Loving is fine. But, quiet and reserved, shy? Or playful and outgoing?”

“Outgoing I guess, so he’s like Matty.”

She really wanted him to be a good little brother for his kid, it was kind of touching. She paid me on time too, so I decided I liked her. I’d do my best to deliver her the outgoing, loving little boy she wanted.

When Dan walked back past me, slurping his smoothie, I counted to five then stood and started to follow him, still pretending to focus on my phone, keeping my distance as we left the mall. After the mall Dan walked to the gym he worked out at on the odd morning. I followed him there, keeping about fifty metres between us. He went inside and I leaned against a fence down the road, waiting.

He emerged leading his mountain bike out onto the footpath. He’d changed into appropriate gear, a sports t-shirt and some of those tight shorts they wore. Dan was really into his biking and cycled to work a couple days a week. He didn’t take the direct route either. He went up over the hills instead, along a tough trail. I wasn’t fit enough to follow him even if I’d had a bike. But I did have a car and I knew this might be the perfect opportunity. It was worth a try.

While Dan stretched out and checked his bike over I walked quickly the other direction, back to the mall’s car park. Then I drove straight for the other side of the hills, right to where the trail I knew Dan used, emerged. I parked, grabbed my hiking backpack, which was actually empty, and quickly headed up the trail, getting as far from the street as I could. It was late afternoon by this point and the park was largely empty. It was the perfect place to make my move. But it was also tricky as once I had revealed myself it would become impossible to attempt a second time.

I positioned myself by a blind corner on the trail, only just down from the peak of a small hill. There I waited, hoping that the next person to come round the corner would be Dan. Ten minutes passed before I heard the sounds of a bike approaching. God I hoped he wasn’t going too fast or this would really hurt.

I planted myself right in the middle of the path, taking up most of the space, and started to walk upwards towards the bend, just as Dan came round the corner on his bike, heading straight for me. He gasped and slammed on his brakes, began dodging left, so I stepped that way too, making certain he couldn’t just pass me. He turned full left then, hitting the small trees on the path’s edge and falling off the bike.

“Shit!” he swore, though he didn’t seem to be injured.

“Oh I’m so sorry!” I lied. “I didn’t hear you coming.”

Dan frowned up at me as I offered him a hand. “No, that’s okay, I was going a bit fast,” he admitted, letting me help him up, then dusting himself off.

“You look a bit shaken up, I hope you didn’t hit your head, did you?” I asked.

He shook his head, but undid his helmet as well, checking to be sure.

“Nah, think I’m fine,” he said, looking at his bike to check for damage now.

“Glad you’re okay. I’m Jake by the way,” I told him, extending my hand.

Dan reached out to take my hand, it was instinct.

But I didn’t shake his hand, I grabbed it with both of mine, lifting it back so his palm was facing his face. “Oh, my, what’s that?” I gasped, looking at his hand.

Dan look confused, both by what I was doing to his hand and by my exclamation. I’d broken a normal sequence and distracted his conscious mind at once. He was doubly out of step and open for my next move.

I forced his hand right towards his face, palm first, and ordered, “Go to sleep!” at the same time.

Dan’s eyes blinked and he looked even more out of it. When I released his hand it dropped limp to his side. His eyes were still open, but they fluttered. I looked him in the eye and said, “Deep sleep now Dan, deep sleep,” and tapped his forehead.

His head jerked forward and then bobbed up, his shoulders slumping but his mind trying to fight it.

“Deep sleep, you can’t help it, soooo sleepy and tired, right off to sleep now,” I told him, tapping his forehead once, then twice.

With each tap his head fell forward more until I tapped the very top of his head and his whole body went limp. He collapsed right into my arms and I held his weight until I could slowly lower him to the ground.

There, now if anyone came upon us it would look like I was helping a bike crash victim. But we were completely alone for now at least. I sat next to him and whispered, “Very good Dan, you’re going such a good job for me. Now what’s happened is confusing, I know, but it’s something really, really good, something very enjoyable.

“You see your wife sent me to help you because you’re way too stressed. She wants you to relax more and that’s my specialty. I bet you already feel super relaxed and peaceful right now, don’t you?”

“Uh-huh,” Dan mumbled, still limp and tranced on the ground.

“Good, and now we’re going to make you feel even better. All you have to do is visualise the number ten for me. Just imagine that you’re sitting in a big old movie theatre, one of those grand old ones with the huge screens. Can you see yourself there?”

“Yeah.”

“Great, and just feel yourself sinking into the most comfortable, overstuffed, warm old seat, right in the middle of the cinema, best seat in the house. Feeling that?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“And on the screen, you can now see the number ten. But it’s just out of focus, just a bit blurry around the edges. And so you have to squint. And just as it comes into focus the number changes,” I snapped my fingers, “And it’s a nine. And it’s blurry too, worse than the ten, but you can still see it, can see it coming into focus more and more unti,” snap, “it’s now an eight. And with each number you feel yourself sinking more into that comfy seat, feeling even more relaxed, even more peaceful,” snap, “seven. And dropping even deeper now, so comfy, so peaceful…”

By the time I hit one you could barely tell Dan was breathing. He was like putty in my hands, but I was only just getting started.

“And now Dan what you’re going to find is that the seat is so nice, so comfy, that every time you try to lift yourself out of it, to wake up at all, it only pulls you even deeper. You can’t help it, the relaxation is too overwhelming and you can’t fight against it. Fighting only makes it even deeper.”

Dan murmured his understanding and I knew it was time to proceed.

“Okay Dan, now I want you to notice the screen has come back to life. But it isn’t just numbers now, it’s a full scene. It’s you and Erin and Matty at the park. What’s the park you like to take Matty to?”

“Newton Domain,” he answered in a low mumble.

“Very good. Picture Newton Domain, that’s what you see on the screen, focus on the details, the grass, the trees, the perfect blue sky above. And now pay attention to Erin and Matty. I want you to notice what they’re wearing, what they’re doing. Now, tell me, what’s Erin wearing?”

Dan sighed, then said, “Her yellow dress. And her sandals.”

“What’s she doing?”

“Watching Matty playing, waving to him, taking a photo on her phone,” he explained.

“Very good. You’re really good at this. And what about Matty, what’s he wearing?”

“His Spiderman t-shirt, that’s his favourite. And his yellow boardies. He calls them banana shorts. And bare feet. He’s always got bare feet.”

“And what’s he doing?”

“He’s climbing up the outside of the twisty slide. He’s a good climber. He’s waving, he wants Erin to see him.”

“That’s excellent Dan. And now you’re going to notice yourself on that screen too. But there’s something different about you. And that’s because this screen is showing you a vision of the future, of your future.

“So you see yourself, but you aren’t with Erin, watching Matty. You’re playing too, on the playground, with the other children. Because you’ve had the virus Dan. You’ve had the virus and you’re just another one of the little kids playing while the adults supervise.”

Dan moaned and I saw his head start to rise. He didn’t like that, he was trying to wake up. But then his shoulder slumped again and he let out a sigh as his head flopped forward again. He’d dropped even deeper into trance after trying to fight it.

“That’s it Dan, even deeper into trance,” I re-enforced. “Just focus on the screen, on seeing your future. Look at yourself on the screen. You’re playing with the kids. There are many children around, not just Matty of course. And you’re in the middle of them, and you’re playing. And notice that you’re actually naked, completely, totally nude in the middle of the park.”

Dan groaned, clearly unhappy, but made no other moves.

“You aren’t the only nudist of course. There’s a wading pond nearby and a couple toddlers, little two and three year olds, are nude as well. Nobody minds them though, because they’re just innocent little kids. They don’t know any better. And nobody is looking at you either, nobody is complaining or angry. Because you’re just a simple little toddler too. It’s obvious you’re no brighter, no more mature than those other two jaybirds.

“Even Matty is wearing clothes of course. He’s little enough to run around barefoot all day, but much, much too old to be running around in his birthday suit. He’s a big boy, going to big boy school and everything after all. But you’re just a silly little baby boy and everyone, all the adults watching, even the bigger boys and girls playing around you, can tell that you’re just a silly dumb toddler who doesn’t know any better and no one minds that your doodle is bobbing about freely. After all, it’s quite small and hairless and soft anyway.”

I watched carefully as Dan reacted to this, as he struggled to wake and only dropped deeper yet again. He couldn’t fight the suggestions.

“And you’re quite a messy little boy too. You’ve got mud flecked all over your bare body, probably from playing in the grass and dirt after being in the wading pool. And the soles of your feet are so dark. You must go barefoot all the time, just like Matty, like your big brother. You probably idolise him, want to be just like him, a big, smart eight-year old.

“It’s clear that you’re not very bright. You’re not playing with Matty, with the big boys. You’re in the area for the littlest of boys, the toddlers, grouped with the girl who’s play dress shows off her thick diaper, the boy eating his boogers and the two other nudists. Look at your future self, spinning in circles until you fall down dizzy, giggling as you land bare bottomed in the dirt. Chasing another man who clearly has a toddler’s mind, giggling your head off while your penis just swings about like crazy. Running over to Erin, to Mummy, and demanding a cuddle and a juice box. Trying to climb up the slide after your big brother, but finding it far too difficult and then deciding to just sit on the see-saw with the other toddler man instead.”

I watched as the images etched themselves into his mind, painted him an irrefutable picture of his future. He was internalising all of it now, accepting this was his fate, that it was going to happen. That would prepare him for the next step.

“You’re playing there because you’ve had the virus, the fastest type of the virus. In fact you’re just about to have it now. You see I have the magical power to activate the virus with a simple touch on the forehead. I can reach right into your mind and turn it on. And just like that you’ll feel the virus wipe your brain of every last bit of adult intelligence and leave you with the mental abilities of a three year old, a slow three year old. And more than that, it will completely remove your inhibitions, your maturity, your concept of privacy. You’ve seen exactly what you’ll become once the virus has been activated. And you know that it’s irreversible, that it’s unstoppable. It only takes seconds and every mature thought will be gone.”

I let the suggestions sink it, let him accept them. I knew he was still watching his future self play naked in the park. It was all up to his own imagination now, I’d just set the stage. I wondered what he was seeing himself do now. Was he sucking his toes? Maybe chewing dandelions or smashed ants? No doubt it was degrading, it was humiliating, whatever he was seeing. I always made them see themselves naked in public, that really was the ultimate humiliation for most people. And it did actually happen now and then. Some caregivers treated their grown toddlers like real ones that way and while it made some people uncomfortable it wasn’t illegal. Dan probably had seen an adult toddler naked at a beach or park one, maybe twice, so it felt real, it felt possible.

“And now the screen is starting to go blurry, starting to fade away. You’re beginning to rise up out of the comfy seat, coming out of the trance at last. But you can feel the virus inside your head, waiting to be activated, waiting to wipe your brain, turn it to gooey mush, leave you utterly helpless and dependent, but also, so totally, incredibly happy. Because as the scene fades away the last thing you need to notice is the look on your future self’s face. It’s a look of complete bliss. Look at the peace, the happiness in those glassy eyes, the contented smile as you play. And as the screen blurs to nothingness you just know it’s going to feel wonderful when you become a happy, silly, dumb little toddler. You’ll never want to grow back up, it’s going to feel so incredibly good.”

The moment of truth was when I counted them up out of the trance. For a few seconds they were fully back, awake, in control, their full intellect at their command. Then I took it all away, for good. I did this for the money, but I can’t deny I also greatly enjoyed the power-trip.

“Three, two, one, and wide awake, refreshed and alert.”

Dan’s head jerked upward, his eyes blinking. He looked around with confusion. I could see him wondering if he’d dreamed all of that, if this was all for real. It had to be very disorienting, I got that.

“What the fuck is going on?!” he demanded.

“Your wife knows about the cheating,” I told him calmly. “Your marriage is over.”

He looked like he’d been hit by a ton of bricks. “I never… I… Who the fuck are you?!”

“Your wife hired me, to keep your family together. You should consider yourself lucky, she was quite insistent you be happy with this in the end. She still cares for you after all you’ve done,” I told him.

“Happy? What’s that even mean?”

I smirked. “You know what it means, you saw it yourself. You’re going to be a toddler, a big dumb baby man. If you go to the mall you’ll be led around on a kiddie leash. Smoothies will be in a sippy cup, but probably it will be simple juice or milk for you anyway. Any biking will be done with training wheels on. But you’ll be happy as a clam with all of that, you’ll accept it, you’ll enjoy it, you’ll be head over heels in love with your Mummy, you’ll be in awe of your big brother. It’s not really such a bad fate.”

“Fuck off. I’ll talk to Erin, we can work this out between us.”

I shrugged. “It’s much too late for that. Next time you see Erin you won’t be up to making conversations. You’ll need all your mental powers just to put a coherent sentence together. You won’t even remember your affair anyway.”

And now the panic began to creep into his expression. I always liked seeing that, the dawning seriousness of what they were facing.

“Look whatever she’s paying you, I can pay more,” he offered.

They always tried that. It had become a cliche. “Sorry, but I survive on referrals. Flipping on clients doesn’t bring me more business,” I told him.

“This… this is total bullshit!” he burst out.

That was always their last gasp.

“You’re thinking it isn’t real, that it won’t work. Well it’s never failed yet and I’ve been doing this for some time now. So, unless you had any final message for your wife we might as well be done with this. It’s a terrible stress for you and you deserve a nice long rest.”

He really began to panic at that. “My son, I have a little boy…”

“You’re going to be a wonderful little brother to him.”

Dan started to try to back away. He scrambled to his feet and I tapped him with my index finger, right in the middle of his forehead.

Dan’s eyes crossed as he looked up at my finger, his mouth dropping open in shock.

“Zap,” I said, snapping my fingers at the same time.

“Ohhh,” Dan moaned, blinking over and over. He was feeling it, feeling what he believed to be happening, feeling the virus turning his brain to mush. Of course that wasn’t what was happening at all. His brain was physically perfectly fine. Everything that was going on in his head was because he believed it, because I had suggested it to him.

I looked down and saw the bulge growing in his shorts, tenting the tight bike shorts out. Yes, he was experiencing pleasure as well, he was enjoying the sensation of his brain turning to goo, his intelligence and maturity leaking from his ears.

I put my hand on his arm. “I know, it feels so good, doesn’t it?”

Dan’s mouth was still agape. He nodded slowly though, blinking those wide, shocked looking eyes again and again. Each person experienced it a bit differently, depending on what they thought having the virus so suddenly would feel like I guess. The length of time it took seemed to vary based on the same principal. But this seemed to be going pretty quickly.

Slowly he raised his arms to his head and placed his fingers on his temples, rubbing them, moaning again.

“Dan, we need to get you out of these grown-up clothes, okay?” I asked him. “You’re going to be so much more comfy without them in a second, once the big boy thoughts have all gone bye-byes, okay?”

He pouted, looking anguished but then nodded. “Okay,” he agreed.

I knelt down and unlaced his shoes one at a time, then slipped them and his socks off. I directed his arms up, slipping his t-shirt off too. As I reached for the shorts though he snapped, “No!” and pouted again.

I stopped, looking again at the tented bulge where he was clearly very aroused by this. I patted his now bare back and said, “It’s okay Danny. You won’t mind being nakey. Remember what you saw? You’re going to be a silly little nudist anyway. Can you feel the modesty leaving your head yet? It must be very close now.”

“Uhhh. Ummmm,” he murmurred, nibbling at his thumb looking so conflicted, so confused.

“Shhh,” I cooed, then slipped the shorts and his undies down, letting his fully erect penis waggle free, precum dribbling down the shaft.

“There we go, isn’t that much better?” I said.

Danny looked down at his exposed penis. It wasn’t on the screen now, it wasn’t in his trance dream, this was real. He was actually nude. He took in his bare body and that seemed to be the final straw, confirming in his mind that it was all real. And just like that the modesty, the remaining intellect and maturity, all vanished at once. His blushing cheeks faded, his body visibly relaxed. Danny grew a lazy smile and told me, “I got nakey.”

I chuckled. “You sure are.”

Danny grinned even more, looking totally relaxed and at peace now. “Mummy wets me go nakey at da park,” he told me.

“Does she?”

He nodded. “Cuz I awll widdle.”

“Are you a little boy?”

“Yeff! Widdle boy!”

“Well I don’t think a little boy should be up here all alone. Why don’t you come with me and we will walk you home to Mummy and brother.”

Danny let me take his hand. “Otay,” he agreed. “Home to Mummy.”

And so he walked along next to me, bare feet untroubled by the rough terrain as he was convinced he had tough little kid feet. His stiff penis bounced along and he wasn’t worried about who might see him unclothed. Heck, he was happy to run around the park in his birthday suit, he was looking forward to it. Even though his brain was physically okay it was obvious he truly had the intellect and maturity of a three year old.

I did dress Danny in a t-shirt, underoos and shorts before turning him over to Erin. I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. Who knew what her actual views on such public nudity might actually be. She was overjoyed at seeing the success of my treatment of course. I knew she’d pass on my number to anyone else she knew who might need my services.

A week later I did a spot check to see how they were going. I always did a follow-up to be sure everything had stuck. After all the changes were just in their minds. But when I cruised past their house I saw Matty walking along the footpath out front. The eight-year old boy was looking positively mature in his school polo shirt and shorts, leading his thirty-something dad along the footpath. Danny, despite his massive age and size advantage, was clearly not the one in charge here. He was on his bike again, but now with training wheels attached, wearing nothing but a pair of cartoon print underoos, bare feet gripping the pedals, smiling ear to ear as he went on some big adventure down the street with his big brother.

An important part of my line of work was avoiding any unnecessary scrutiny. That meant keeping prying eyes out of my legitimate business as well. I laundered my fees through the legitimate business, as consulting fees. It would be a problem if anyone took too close a look at my books. Which is why I had to quickly deal with any complaints from my clients. All it took was one of them filing an official complaint with my professional body and I could be in trouble.

That was why I was in my office on a Saturday, dealing with a situation before it got out of hand.

“So what’s the main issue?” I asked Alison.

The woman sitting across from me was clearly upset. She had brought her former boyfriend turned child to me a few weeks ago for pretty standard treatment. He was mentally six years old but was shy, had no friends at his new primary school, was being bullied for being a teacher’s pet and still trying to act like a grown-up. I’d given him what I considered to be a very successful treatment for all of those issues. But here they were, back in my office.

“Really?!” Alison replied angrily. “You don’t know what’s wrong? Look at him!”

Alison was a thirtyish woman, a professional of some kind, always well dressed, her hair and makeup immaculate. When she’d brought Shaun to me for treatment he’d been dressed up like he was going to church; button-down shirt, dressy pants, black leather shoes and all. It was no surprise he was getting bullied. What kind of six year old walked around like that on a daily basis?

Shaun was in the seat next to Alison and he didn’t look ready for church anymore. The thirty-one year old was sitting cross-legged on the chair, squirming around, looking eagerly over at the toys in the corner. He wore a pair of black athletic shorts but basically nothing else. He was barefoot and shirtless. It wasn’t a bad look for him. He was actually pretty muscular and his body was smooth and nicely tanned. I noted the lack of lines. He had been running around shirtless a lot apparently. In addition to that his hair was messy and I could see the soles of his feet were as black as the shorts he wore.

“He looks pretty happy to me,” I told her.

“C’n I play with the toys?” Shaun interrupted.

“Shaun, you need to sit still and listen. This is important,” Alison told him.

He pouted and whined, “I don’t wanna listen! That’s boring! You’re boring! I wanna play!”

“This conversation is well beyond his understanding Alison, he might as well play while we talk,” I suggested.

Alison frowned deeply but waved her arm at Shaun and said, “Fine, play while we talk.”

The squirming man lit up and he jumped out of the seat and dropped to his hands and knees on the floor, quickly grabbing a police car and ambulance and racing them around the carpet, making sound effects as he went, totally oblivious to us.

“Do you see how he’s dressed?” Alison demanded of me, snapping my attention back to her.

“Yes, I see that. But I assume you dressed him, so…”

“Oh I dress him alright, but he won’t keep any proper clothes on. He threw all his shoes away in the bushes on his way to school, so it’s pointless to replace them. He throws a tantrum if I try to make him keep his shirt on, so I’ve just given up on it for now at least. I don’t even bother. When we have to go out I tell him to get his shorts on. That’s what I say. ‘Shaun, shorts on please,’ and off we go, him walking around the neighbourhood, the supermarket in nothing but his shorts, like we’re complete bogans. I can’t even scrub all the dirt of his feet, so I gave up on that too.”

I nodded attentively, trying to make her feel heard. That was very important, people needed to feel like you were listening to them without judging.

“I understand your concern,” I told Alison. “But the way he’s dressed isn’t that unusual for boys his age. And he seems very comfortable that way.”

“Yes, he’s perfectly comfortable, his understanding of dress expectations, his sense of modesty is totally gone. You took it away.”

I didn’t deny it. “He needed to fit in with the other boys and this was the best way to do it.”

“But it’s not just the clothes!” Alison went on. “He’s become a hyperactive, immature little boy. He’s gone from the top reading group in his class to the bottom one. I’m being called in to teacher interviews because he’s misbehaving. He’s was a perfect angel before, now he’s the class clown.”

I had to keep from smiling as I thought back to my session with Shaun. He’d grown a huge stiffy when I told him how good it felt to be a silly dumb boy, how wonderful the ground felt under his bare feet, how he deeply wanted to have filthy feet that everyone would see and know he was very little. He’d clearly taken my suggestions perfectly.

“Alison, I understand that you aren’t happy with the situation. But I think I have a solution,” I assured her.

She looked skeptical, but asked, “You can fix him then?”

Of course I could. But that’s not what I wanted at all. I looked over at the barefoot man lying on his tummy and smashing toy cars together. No, I wanted him just like he was.

“I absolutely can. But for optimal results I’d really like to work with you both this time.”

“Both of us?” she asked, looking unsure.

“Absolutely. I do it all the time. There’s nothing to worry about. All you need to do is take three nice, deep breathes for me…”

Twenty minutes later Shaun was still playing but Alison was limp as a ragdoll in her chair, her head resting back against it, eyes closed.

“You absolutely love Shaun, don’t you Alison?”

“Yeah,” she answered quietly.

“You love him just the way he is, a sweet, playful little boy.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You don’t mind that he’s a bit slow, a bit immature and hyper. He’s just a busy little guy, he’s just a fun-loving, playful boy.”

A smile played at her lips. “Yeah,” she slurred.

“It’s okay that he’s in trouble at school sometimes. He’s trying his best, he’s just a bit behind the other boys and that’s okay. You don’t want a smart Alec. You want a happy boy.”

“Happy boy,” she echoed.

“And it’s wonderful that he’s lost all his silly old grown-up modesty. After all, Shaun needs to enjoy being a boy, getting dirty, playing rough, exploring. And that’s best done in as little clothing as possible, since no one minds little boys being informal. It saves you doing more laundry. In fact that’s why you encourage it, why you don’t even bother buying him shoes to replace the ones he lost. He’s just a silly little boy, he’d lose them too. Besides, you think he’s just adorable running around barefoot. It’s so cute when he looks like an oversized little boy.”

Alison was nodding again, eating up my suggestions. Yes, this was my favourite way to avoid complaints.

But something caught my eye then, something that distracted me from Alison. My phone, sitting on my desk, had lit up and I could just see who the text I had received was from. It was Maddie, a woman I’d done some work for a couple months back. But she shouldn’t have been making contact with me. I’d told her not to unless it was an emergency. That’s what I told all of my side business clients.

I wrapped up Alison’s session, made sure she was smiling just as broadly as Shaun was, then checked my text messages. Maddie’s was right there waiting for me.

Serious issue with Billy. Need to talk ASAP.

What the hell was this about? I text back:

What’s the issue?

It was only seconds before my phone vibrated and lit up again. She must have been actively awaiting my reply.

Billy having adult memories. Please meet me. You free today?

Adult memories? That just wasn’t possible, was it? I’d never had an issue before and of all the people to come out of it, Billy seemed very unlikely.

Bill Stevenson had messed with the wrong woman. He cheated on his wife and she turned out to be the vengeful type. She paid me not just to regress him, but to give him my worst treatment. He was to be reduced to a two year old and left unable to progress normally. He wouldn’t be mentally three the next year, he might never progress beyond the level of a five year old. In addition to that I was to have him placed in a low-class foster family.

She wanted him stripped of everything, not just his intellect. She wanted his maturity wiped and his middle class refinement. She was one very angry woman. I was really impressed by her level of vindictiveness actually.

The permanence of the change, the completeness of it made Bill a special case for me, one which I remembered well. I’d tricked him into a meet-up at a family restaurant, pretending to be one of his flings. He got a nice private booth at the corner of the restaurant. Of course he wasn’t very happy when I showed up, and especially when I sat down next to him in the booth instead of across from him. But it wasn’t long before I had him resting his head on my shoulder, listening to my suggestions. When it was done I’d left him to play in the ballpit in his undies. I actually felt guilty about that one, it was far nastier than what I usually did, dooming him to permanent toddlerhood, not just a fresh start. But I was merciful as I could be, I made sure he was incredibly happy with his new life. The last time I saw him he was sitting in the middle of that kiddie play area ball-pit with his toes jammed in his mouth and an ear to ear grin on his face.

It seemed very strange that Billy of all people would have fought my suggestions and regained his adult awareness. If he went to the authorities that would be my worst case scenario. I replied:

I’m free. Meet me at Hollywood Bakery. Thirty minutes.

Maddie was already sitting at a table when I arrived. She looked like this was indeed serious. Her hair was messy, like she’d not had the time to properly get ready before leaving the house. The worry was clear on her face and she wasted no time on pleasantries when I took my seat.

“You promised me it was a one-way trip, that there was no way he could recover,” she whispered in a harsh tone.

I held up a hand to stop her. “Calm down Maddie. Before we discuss anything else I need to check something.”

I pulled the radiofrequency detector out of my pocket, flicked it on and said, “You know the drill.”

I always had potential clients run the detector over their bodies to make certain they weren’t wearing a wire. Of course it wasn’t fool-proof, some really high tech equipment could trick such detectors, but it was at least a bit of extra protection.

“Really? Still? After what I paid you to…”

I shook my head and put my finger to my lips. “Sweep first, then we talk.”

I watched her reluctantly but carefully pass the detector over her body. The steady sound never peaked, never crackled in a way that indicated she was wearing a wire. It seemed she was clean.

She shoved the device roughly across the table and said, “Satisfied now?”

Pocketing it, I nodded. “Can’t be too careful. Now, what exactly makes you think Billy is aware again?”

“You think I’m making this up? That I’m imagining things?” she asked, clearly not liking my tone. “He’s been making threats, texting them to me.”

“Billy has the mind of a slow two-year old,” I told her. “He doesn’t know the alphabet, can’t speak in full sentences. There’s no way he could be sending a text. He wouldn’t even have the fine motor skills to type it out on a phone.”

“Well you look at this and tell me what you think it means then,” she demanded, sliding her phone across the table to me.

I looked down at the chat log.

You fucked with the wrong man Maddie. I know what you did to me now and I am not going to put up with it.

Maddie had replied by playing innocent, asking who this was.

Who do you think? How many people have you fucked over? How many lives have you ruined? You tried to break my mind, leave me a retard, but I’m back.

Maddie seemed to accept it was genuine now, asking what her former husband wanted from her.

I want an apology. I want my life back. And I want you to pay. Meet me tonight at the A&P Show, 6PM, or I go straight to the cops.

“What makes you think this is real. There’s no message history before this morning. Is it from his phone?” I asked.

“Of course not. I have his old phone. He must have used someone else’s. But who else would be sending me a text like this? How could it be anyone else?”

That did seem equally unlikely, but I just hated to consider the real possibility my programming had failed. If that was really possible it put everything in jeopardy even if I could neutralise this threat.

“Why hasn’t he already gone to the authorities?” I asked her.

She shrugged. “How would I know? Maybe he wants revenge he doesn’t think they can deliver. He could be planning to kill me!”

“Keep your voice down,” I warned her, checking to see if anyone else in the cafe was staring at us. No, people were absorbed in their own conversations. “Look I think that’s very unlikely. But, you probably shouldn’t go to the A&P Show tonight.”

Maddie seemed pleased to hear that, but still worried. “Okay, and then what?” she asked. “What if he does go to the authorities?”

“That’s not going to happen. I’m going to meet him at the show tonight. I’ll finish the programming, make sure it’s permanent this time. Assuming you’re still okay with that.”

Maddie nodded instantly. “Of course I am. Now more than ever. He could ruin our lives. Do whatever you have to.”

“Okay, you go home then, I’ll give you a ring when it’s done. Don’t do anything else until I’ve contacted you, okay?”

“Okay, just make sure it sticks this time,” she warned.

The A&P Show was being held in Moore’s Park all week. It was a Kiwi tradition to have Agricultural and Pastoral shows to show off all the products of the farmers, but like a country fair in the States, they were mainly about the games, rides and carnival style attractions for the kids. It was a busy place on a Saturday afternoon of course. The place was packed with families enjoying a summer evening out. It was a smart place to meet since it was very public. It would be incredibly hard to hypnotise Billy here. But it would also be hard for him to get his revenge here, which meant he wasn’t likely planning any violent attack, he probably legitimately wanted to talk. A meeting like this meant he was more concerned with his own safety than getting even. I hoped.

I positioned myself near the entry to the show. People were parking on the grass fields across the street then walking in. A long line had formed at the sausage and candy floss stand to my right while others queued up for the ferris wheel to my left. The path behind me was bounded by various game stands on both sides. I hoped that Billy wouldn’t spot me too easily. It depended on how good his memory of that day at the restaurant was. He’d never met me before then, and he’d surely be looking for Maddie. Once I spotted him though, I’d basically be improvising. I hated improvising.

The place was alive with the sounds of giggling, screaming kids of all sizes. Plenty of adult children were bounding about, going on the same kiddie rides as the little ones, making uncoordinated throws at the tossing games stands, hopping up and down demanding candy floss from their caregivers.

Then, into the middle of this, came a sight I wasn’t fully prepared for. I recognised a middle-aged couple walking into the entry. The man, in a tank-top, short rugby shorts and jandals; his partner in a halter-top much too small for her sizable belly and these cut-off jean shorts that were so short they practically had the pockets hanging out. She looked trashy as could be with her flabby skin on display, her middle aged physique not matching the clothes a teen girl would be better suited to.

I knew them instantly. Pete and Lucy Daniels, a bogan couple who fostered adult kids for Oranga Tamariki. I knew them because I had made sure Billy ended up with them. And now here they were, in all their redneck, bogan glory. And they weren’t alone.

Billy had turned up to the meeting, he’d made his appearance a little early in fact. But it was nothing like what I’d been prepared for. Billy was walking along with his foster parents. The fully grown man was wearing what was unmistakably a pair of pull-ups. They appeared to have cars and trucks prints which likely faded when they got wet. He was wearing his pull-ups and nothing else. Billy was the consummate bogan toddler, walking along with no shirt, no pants of any kind, barefoot of course, and showing off his pull-ups to everyone. Well that wasn’t entirely true. He had one other thing on, but it wasn’t really clothing. What could only be described as a child leash was clipped around his arms and chest. He was being led along like a dog, his foster dad, Pete, holding his lead.

Billy wasn’t the only adult toddler present. I had seen a few others. Many were barefoot and I’d seen one who was shirtless, but Billy was unusual in having nothing on but his pull-ups. And there was no sign they’d brought other clothes for him. It seemed they considered this normal, perfectly acceptable. And while there were some looks, some stares from other show patrons, no one said anything. Instead they rolled their eyes at the trashy family, they sniggered and pointed the sight out to their families and friends, then they moved on.

But it wasn’t just Billy’s state of dress that surprised me, it was his behaviour as well. He wasn’t acting like a man who had recovered his mental abilities and wanted revenge. Billy was toddling ahead of the parents, walking with a wide gait, smacking his bare feet down on the dirt and gravel without any sign of discomfort, rushing ahead until Pete yanked on the leash and stopped him, the strap across his still muscular and tanned bare chest going tight and holding him back. Billy hopped up and down, pointing frantically at the ferris wheel, his face just filled with awe, like he was beyond amazed at all the sights and sounds, like this was all fresh and new to him.

“Dey go uppies!” he shouted, gazing with amazement at the ferris wheel. He spun around and faced his foster parents, then hopped up and down, waving his arms in the air over his head. “Up! Up! Uppies!” he announced.

“Calm down Billy, we can see it too,” Pete told him.

“Let’s get somethin’ to eat,” Lucy suggested.

Billy wasn’t listening though. He was still pointing at the ferris wheel, then spinning around and getting tangled in his leash. “Up! Go up!” he insisted.

“Hold your horses. Don’t you want some candy floss?” Lucy cooed to him.

Billy’s jaw dropped open and he gazed at where Lucy was pointing, seeing the bright pink confectionary treats awaiting them. Billy nodded like a bobble-head. “Ummy!” he chirped.

They got into the line for the candy floss and Billy squatted down on his haunches, drawing in the soft dirt with his fingers, then pulling at his toes while they waited. If he was acting right now, it was the best performance I’d ever seen. He looked utterly oblivious to the looks he was getting, totally unconcerned by his state of dress. There was a slackness to his face, a certain glaze to the eyes that just couldn’t be faked. There was no way he could have sent those messages.

That would have made me wonder what was going on here, except that there was actually something far more concerning about this little family than the way Billy was dressed and behaving. After all this was how Billy was meant to be. He was clearly not fighting my suggestions at all, and he even appeared quite happy to be a silly big toddler. No, what was concerning was the Daniels family now had a second adult toddler.

This second boy was in many ways a mirror image of Billy. He was twenty-something, so a bit younger, but had a similar thin, muscular build, short dark hair, smooth, tanned skin. He was also wearing nothing but a pull-up and his matching leash was held by Lucy. They were for all intents and purposes, twins. Of course it could have been possible that Oranga Tamariki had simply placed a second boy in their care and decided to give them one of the same mental age since they were set up for that. It could have been that, but it wasn’t. And I knew that because I knew this second boy and he wasn’t one of my clients.

The second young man was Rick Baylor. He was a hypnotherapist, same as me. He didn’t have a legitimate business though, he just worked on contracts. He was my competition and it always paid to know who that was. I’d met him a few times but weren’t friends or anything. He was kind of a jerk, a real cocky guy who thought he was the best in our business. Clearly he was wrong.

When I recognised him there was a moment where I wondered if he was undercover for some reason. He was being quieter than Billy. He was sucking his fingers, gazing around with wide eyes, but not making a total fool of himself. But when they got in line he sat down on his bottom and pulled at his feet. While Billy drew in the dirt, Rick pulled his right foot to his mouth and began to suck on his dirty toes. His eyes were wide and I could see that glassiness in them, the slackness of his face as he nibbled his tootsies. This was no act. Of course it was possible it was a coincidence, that Rick had actually had the virus, had been reduced to toddlerhood and placed in the same family as Billy. But I don’t believe in coincidences, especially not ones that convenient. This was intentional.

I considered my options. I could leave right then. Things didn’t add up and the safest move would be a strategic withdrawal to consider my options. But that left so many questions unanswered and I needed to be able to tell Maddie something. I could keep following the Daniels, see where they led me. But to what end? I needed answers and they were probably my only shot at getting them quickly.

I made my way over to the family. Pete looked surprised to see me. That didn’t seem to be an act, but I couldn’t be certain.

“Well hey there Pete, Lucy. It’s good to see you,” I said to them.

“Jake, what are you doing here?” Pete asked as he shook my hand.

“Just enjoying the show, what about you?”

“Well we weren’t going to come but then Lucy found this flier on the car about it and… I dunno, we just couldn’t miss it,” he explained, as if slightly mistified himself.

“Well I hope you’re having a good time,” I told him.

“Well it’s really for the little guys I guess. Billy loves this kind of stuff of course and I’m sure Ricky will too.”

“Yeah, I see you have another boy now.”

Pete nodded. “Yeah, Ricky joined us a couple weeks ago. They said we’d be perfect for him since he’s just like Billy, two years old and permanently impaired. Neither of ‘em will be growing up so we’re guaranteed the top subsidy payment, long-term.”

I nodded. “So Ricky’s like Billy then? In every way?” I asked, looking down at my former competitor.

Ricky was still sat on his bottom in the dirt, he was gazing right up at me now, his eyes locked on mine. He still had his big toe jammed between his lips too, sucking away at it, a line of drool running down the dirty bare sole of his foot. There was no enmity in his expression, no recognition of who I was, of how far he’d fallen. He just looked totally innocent. Billy was gaping up at me too, and it was obvious he had no idea who I was either. He was nibbling the tips of his fingers, eating the dirt off them, wide-eyed and dumb as a post.

Pete chuckled. “Well yeah, pretty much. They’re the best of buddies, playing and wrestling with each other all the time. I think Ricky is a tiny bit behind Billy in the brains department though.”

“I see they wear pull-ups.”

“Yeah, diapers for bed, pull-ups for going out, bare bottoms the rest of the time,” Pete agreed.

“So Ricky’s a jaybird too?” I questioned. I’d given Billy strong suggestions to turn him into a little nudist of course. That was part of the deal with Maddie, giving him the full package. But had someone else done the same to Ricky?

It was Lucy who answered this time. “Haha, oh my goodness yes. I call them my two little bares. They don’t really get the joke of course, but they giggle their heads off all the same. Have to watch ‘em real close or they’ll have them pull-ups off ‘fore you know it.”

I felt a tug on my shorts and looked down. Ricky had let his toe go and was now reaching up at me with both arms.

“Aww, he wants a cuddle,” Lucy cooed. “Ricky is a very affectionate little guy too.”

Maybe he had a message to give me after all. I opened my arms and let Ricky stand up and cuddle me. His skin was smooth and warm from the sun. I rubbed his back under his leash’s buckle and waited for him to whisper something to me, something important.

When he said nothing I whispered to him, “Are you a dumb little boy now Ricky? Did someone empty out your head?”

Ricky giggled softly, no sign he was upset by my taunt, that he understood it at all. He seemed only to react to the happy tone I had said it in.

“Wicky good boy,” he answered softly.

No, he didn’t remember a thing.

I let Ricky go and wished them a good time. Billy stood up then, opening his arms, demanding his own farewell cuddle from the man who took away all his intelligence. I obliged of course. There were no secret messages from him either. All I got from him was a big wet smooch on my cheek. I left them to enjoy their candy floss. I obviously wasn’t going to learn anything else here.

No sooner had I left them than my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a message from Maddie. I opened it.

Hope you enjoyed catching up with your old friends. I’ve been catching up with one too. Drop by when you have a chance.

My heart flip-flopped. The message came from Maddie’s number, I double-checked that, but it didn’t look like she composed it. Something was very wrong.

I left the show immediately, heading back to my car and driving straight to Maddie’s house. Obviously Billy wasn’t the one sending either of us the messages. So who was it? And what did they want?

I was pretty nervous when I got to Maddie’s house. Of course it had been paid for mainly by Bill, but it passed fully to her when he was declared an incompetent minor. I had never actually been inside of it, I’d just staked it out when I was watching Bill, planning when to take him. It was strange to actually approach the house now, to walk up to the front door and ring the bell. It felt reckless to be sure, but what choice did I have?

There was no answer to the doorbell. I tried knocking. “Maddie! You in there?” I called out, again to no response. Could she be out? Could she be asleep? Both were unlikely.

I tried the doorknob. It was unlocked. “Shit,” I muttered, stepping into the house.

“Hello, hello!” I called out. “Maddie, it’s me, Jake!”

The TV was on in the living room, but the volume was turned right down. A beeping noise was coming from somewhere. I headed through to the kitchen and knew this was a bad sign. The fridge was wide open, that was the origin of the sound. Drawers were pulled out, cabinets wide open, a bottle of milk lay on its side on the floor, a pool of its contents spilled around it. I closed the fridge, silencing the annoying beeping.

Another sound caught my attention and I headed down the hallway to the one open door. It appeared to be the master bedroom. The bed was a total mess, sheets and duvet on the floor. Clothes had been yanked out of the wardrobe and piled here and there as well. But still no sign of Maddie, or anyone else. I backed out of the room, checking other bedrooms but finding nothing. Back out to the kitchen, but then I noticed the ranch slider is ajar.

I found her in the backyard. As I stepped through the sliding door onto the deck I could see her in the middle of the grassy yard, squatting down, resting on her haunches. She was completely naked. I could see every bump on her spine, her smooth bare skin visible right down to her butt. Damn, this was what I was afraid of.

I walked out into the yard until I was next to her. She heard me and looked up. It was quite a sight to see. Her lips and chin were stained with chocolate and perhaps milk. She’d drawn lipstick across her cheeks and forehead in aimless zig-zags. She was chewing on dandelions, with green spittle dripping down her chin. She gazed up at me with wide, empty eyes. I could instantly see the light had gone out from behind them.

“Maddie, do you know what happened to you? Who did this?” I asked her, kneeling down to her level.

The naked woman didn’t answer my question. Instead she declared, “Awll pweety!” as she touched the lipstick stains on her cheek.

“Yes Maddie, you’re very pretty. Such a pretty baby girl,” I cooed to her.

She smiled broadly, letting dandelion bits drop from her mouth. She didn’t even mind being called a baby. All she heard was that she was pretty. Or perhaps even that was over her head now, perhaps it was just my tone she was responding to.

“Who was here before me honey? Do you know their name?” I followed up.

She blinked, totally uncomprehending.

“Who got you all pretty?” I tried. “Who got you all nakey?”

“Nakey!” she echoed brightly, reaching down and sort of patting her breasts.

It was no use, she’d had her brain turned to mush. It was time for some new tactics. I brought Maddie back into the house. She let me lead her by the hand, let me sit her down on the kitchen floor and clean her face up. She was fine with being cared for now, perfectly happy to let an adult look after her every need. That was good because she’d be leaving this house now. She’d be taken into the care of Oranga Tamariki and eventually placed into a foster home.

My phone buzzed again.

She’s a pretty girl isn’t she? She really wanted her clothes off when I finished with her, so I obliged. I’m sure you don’t mind.

Son of a bitch. This guy was still out there, and he was messing with me.

What is this about? What do you want from me motherfucker?

His reply was quick, as expected.

I know who you are and what you’ve done. That all ends now. I showed you what happened to Ricky so you understood how capable I am. Maddie was a warning.

A warning? What the hell did that mean? I still didn’t know what this guy wanted from me. But I wasn’t scared that easily.

Look asshole, I’m an expert at this stuff. You think I’ll fall for any of your tricks?

His reply was chilling.

I know how good you are and you’re right, I wouldn’t even try to put you under. That’s why you’re going to do it to yourself.

I blinked. What the fuck?

A moment later a video file appeared. It was a big file, took a minute to fully load.

Here’s your file, made especially just for you, a custom job. You just need to open it and watch. I suggest using headphones too, so no one nearby gets affected by accident. Watch the file and you’ll be a sweet little one just like Ricky.

Obviously I didn’t click on the file.

No way am I watching that! Are you trying to tell me Rick voluntarily watched something like that? That’s bullshit and you know it.

Seconds passed, then:

Ricky watched it all on his own, and knowing full well what it was. The file will permanently cripple your mind, leave you a sweet little two year old who will never grow back up past the level of a four or five year old. It will let you remember who you used to be though, let you keep your memories of being a big grown-up man. But that’s all they’ll be, memories. I’m not cruel though, it will also make sure you’re very happy with your new life.

What did this guy think he had on me? No amount of money would get me to watch a file that would permanently regress me to toddlerhood, leave me to wander around in public in pull-ups or worse.

Thanks for the offer, but no thanks.

What could he possibly expect me to say?

It’s your choice. But if you don’t listen to the file I will begin to regress everyone who is close to you, all your loved ones, your friends. Maddie was your warning. She got what she deserved.

From now on, they’re going to really hurt.

My blood pressure had to have spiked when I read that one. I typed furiously:

You’re full of shit! If you’re such a do-gooder there’s no way you’ll do this to innocent people just because I know them.

One last reply came through.

I’ve given you a warning, which is more than your victims got. And you’ve certainly never cared about innocence before, so it’s good to know you have some sense of morality. It’s up to you now. Let me know your decision within one hour.

After placing an anonymous call to police so they would find Maddie I left the house and headed back to my own place. Once there I ran through my old files, trying to figure out who this could be. They had to be related to one of my earlier clients, had to have the technical knowledge to pull this off. That couldn’t be a very long list. But frankly I didn’t even know where to begin.

That got me thinking about another list, people who were potential targets for this psycho. My parents lived far away, so they weren’t likely. I wasn’t in a relationship at the moment, so no partner to worry about. But I had friends and I had my brother, Ted. He lived twenty minutes away, well within range of this guy. Should I call and warn him? It was possible, but there was no way I could explain the situation without endangering myself.

I decided to focus on my friends first. I started a group chat with Tony, Erica and Keith. They were my closest friends. We played poker fairly regularly and tried to catch a movie once a month at least. I decided to be vague, but serious.

Hey guys, sorry to come across all serious and scary but I’ve got a problem with a former client’s relative. The dude is stalking me hardcore and actually just attacked a friend of mine. He might have my contacts list, which means he’ll know you guys and that means you could be in danger. Try not to get close to anyone who acts like they know you, or tries to pull you aside. It sounds like a joke, I know, but it’s for real.

With my mates warned I set about going back through my files again, looking for anything that stood out. It was a long night and not that fruitful. In the morning I awoke to find a text, delivered at 5AM.

I’m sorry to see from your silence that you rejected my offer. I’m not that surprised though. You’re a very self-centred guy. All you psychopaths are. But you’ll understand just how much I can take from you soon. Ricky refused at first too. But as you saw he gave in eventually. He really shouldn’t have bothered. It will feel lovely and peaceful I promise. My files are very powerful and very good. Ricky had an absolutely huge orgasm when his mind turned to mush. He had stickies on his chin! Do you think Tony will make a big sticky when I take his big boy thoughts away forever and ever? I think he will!

I opened my group chat. My message had been viewed by Keith and Erica, but not my Tony. Fuck. I barely had time to throw on my clothes as I raced out the door, heading for Tony’s place. It was just past 7AM. Would this bastard have been able to act in two hours? There was no way of knowing for sure.

I banged on Tony’s door for a minute before I heard footsteps. That was a good sign, someone was coming, someone was aware enough to answer the door at least. But when it opened it wasn’t Tony, it was a sleepy looking Claire, his flatmate, standing there in her bathrobe.

“Jesus Jake, you know what time it is?” she asked.

“Sorry, but I have to see Tony now. It’s an emergency.”

“Well sorry but he’s not here. He always goes for a morning run, remember?”

Shit, that was right. “Thanks!” I called out, rushing back down to my car and tracing the route Tony had shown me once many months ago when he was trying to convince me to join him for runs.

As I cruised past a park about a kilometre from his house I spotted him. He was at the playground, sitting on a swing. But he wasn’t playing on it, wasn’t acting like a little kid. No, he looked to be out of it, his head resting on his chest, perhaps deep in a trance still. Maybe it wasn’t too late. I didn’t even bother parking the car. I stopped double-parked and ran into the park, across the soft sand of the playground. It wasn’t a good sign that his shirt, shoes and socks were sitting in a pile at the edge of the playground, but he still had his red running shorts on, so that was something. Surely he wouldn’t have still been wearing those if this stalker was done with him.

I stopped in front of him, waiting to see if he was aware. No, his eyes were closed, he was totally out of it. I looked around, trying to spot the bastard. He had to be nearby. I must have interrupted him. Maybe he had a GPS tracker on my car! He must have known I was nearby somehow. But there was no sign of him. No one was in the park at all.

I turned back to Tony and quietly said, “Tony, can you hear me buddy?”

His head jerked upward and his eyes opened. He looked like he was just waking from a deep sleep, really needing to blink the drowsiness away. But when he saw me his eyes focused, they really focussed and I could see the intelligence in them, the recognition.

“Jake? What’s going on? Why are you here?” he asked.

“Dude, do you even know where you are?” I asked him.

He looked around and furrowed his brow. “It’s that playground I run past. I’ve never been on it though.”

“Do you remember how you got here?” I asked him.

“Umm, I was running. Yeah and then… there was this guy who fell over. I… I went to help him and then… I just remember being so sleepy and it felt really good, just going to sleep…”

I nodded. “Yeah, that guy was no ordinary jogger. He was a hypnotist. He put you into a trance. But it looks like I got here in time.”

Now Tony really looked confused. “What the fuck mate? And where are the rest of my clothes?” he added, suddenly noticing his lack of shirt and shoes.

“Oh, they’re over there, by the slide. I can get them for you.”

“Nah, I’m fine dude, I can get them. I just want to know why the hell I took them off.”

I shrugged, not wanting to tell him any more than he needed to know. He’d be so freaked out if he knew the fucker who did this to him was probably preparing him to be a jaybird nudist.

“Well, if you’re good to go then…”

“Definitely. Let’s just head back to my place. I’m not so keen to finish my run now,” he joked.

Tony stood up out of the swing. Instantly the wry smile was wiped from his face. Tony’s eyes went wide and he looked confused.

“What’s wrong?” I asked right away.

Tony’s mouth fell open, he blinked sharply, twice. “I… it’s… my head’s all fuzzy ‘nd… umm….” he stammered.

My heart sank. Whether it was standing up out of the swing, or perhaps feeling the sand on his bare feet, something had triggered the suggestions he must have already fully absorbed after all.

I grabbed Tony’s arm and gave him a sharp shake. “Tony, you need to fight this. Remember you have a girlfriend, Lisa, and she needs you. You just got that promotion at work too. They’re really impressed with you, remember? Your boss told you they want you to move into management soon.”

Tony looked me in the eye and nodded. “Yeah… I remember. I like Lisa, she’s so nice, so pretty.” He blinked again and I saw his eyes going glassier.

“Stay with me Tony. This isn’t real buddy, it’s just in your head, just suggestions. You don’t have to listen to any of them,” I told him.

He nodded, but I could see it wasn’t as easy as that for him. He moaned and looked down. His shorts were tented out, his stiffy so big it was almost peeking out the elastic waist.

“My head’s going fuzzy, ‘nd it feels, ugh, so good,” he whispered.

I nodded. “I know it feels nice, but it’s forever Tony. If you don’t fight it you’ll be a dumb little toddler forever.”

Tony’s face showed his panic now. He shook his head, gripping both my arms in his hands. “Don’t want that,” he told me. “Don’t wanna be dumb.”

“Of course not,” I agreed. “Just remember who you are. You’re a grown man, you’re smart, you’re capable, you have a loving girlfriend.”

He nodded, but his grip on my arms lightened, his eyes glazed a bit more. Every second standing there in that sand, feeling it on his bare soles, it had to be triggering him over and over. He couldn’t fight it. The suggestions must have been so powerful, so irresistible.

“I… I… it’s so big…” he gasped, looking down at the bulge in his crotch again.

I knew what was coming, but I couldn’t stop it. Tony looked me in the eye once again, his lips were trembling. He shook his head, but he couldn’t hold on any longer. His right hand slipped off my arm and plunged into his shorts. I watched him jerk it up and down rapidly, frantically, desperate for the release.

“I gotta!” he blurted out.

“I know, I understand,” I told him, not trying to stop him anymore. “Go ahead and get those stickies out.”

I watched his arm jerk up and down for another five or ten seconds, then his body spasmed and he let out an incredible moan. Sure enough a few spurts of white goo escaped the shorts, flying through the air as he came with incredible force.

“Ohhh. Ughhh. Mmmmm,” he moaned, shuddering from head to toe, eyes rolled back in his head.

I patted his shoulder and back, waiting until he was finished. Then I gave him my best smile, wanting to give him as much comfort as I could, even though I was feeling deeply angry and saddened at once.

“I bet that felt really, really good, huh?” I cooed to him.

Tony’s eyes opened again and now they were vacant, glassy in the way I had expected earlier.

“Uh-huh,” he agreed, holding up his hand, covered in his own release now, showing it to me like it was something to be proud of.

I looked down at his shorts, where the bulge was slowly receding. Might as well go all the way, get him comfy.

“Why don’t we get these silly messy shorts off, hmm?” I asked him, touching the elastic waist gently, waiting for permission.

Tony gaped down at his shorts. A minute ago he was desperate to get his shirt and shoes back on, felt totally exposed with his body on display like it was. Now he smiled and agreed, “Off!”

I slipped my thumbs in the elastic and yanked them down, revealing his softening penis, covered in sticky goo. Holding my hands for balance Tony stepped clear of the shorts and kicked them away with a light giggle. I patted his now bare bottom and said, “Okay Tony, let’s go to my car so I can take you somewhere they’ll be able to care for you.”

Tony had no clue what he’d just lost. He nodded and took my hand, toddling along with his now soft penis swishing freely between his legs while cum dribbled down his thighs and formed a shiny stain across his bare tummy, glistening in the morning sun.

“Goin’ fow wide,” Tony announced as I opened the door for him.

“That’s right. Aren’t you clever,” I praised him.

“Cweber,” he echoed back, letting me do up his seatbelt for him, strapping him into the backseat of the car naked like that was normal.

I dropped him off at an Oranga Tamariki office, explaining that I’d found him wandering the park naked.

“Do you know where you live honey? Your address?” they asked him.

“Lib in a houthe,” he answered.

“Do you know Mummy or Daddy’s name?” the tried next.

Tony just shook his head.

“How did you get to the park?”

“Wunned!” he answered, correctly for once.

“You ran to the park all nakey?” the case worked followed up.

“Nakey fun,” he answered, beginning to play with his soft penis, though not in a sexual way this time.

The case worker didn’t stop him, just rolled her eyes and typed up her report. “Well thanks for bringing him in. We’ll handle it from here,” she told me.

“Okay, well, um, bye-bye for now Tony,” I told him.

My old friend gave me a toddler wave and chirped, “Bye-bye!” then to the care worker he added, “Him fwiend.”

She didn’t understand how true that was though and just nodded and said, “Yes, he’s a good friend for finding you and keeping you safe.”

If only she knew the truth. I was not a good friend at all. I’d let this happen to him. And sure enough, as soon as I left the building my phone vibrated.

How many more will pay the price for your crimes?

I was pissed now.

Fuck you! This is all on you!

But he wasn’t feeling guilty evidently.

When I have finished with all your friends, all your family, I will reveal everything you’ve done to the media. Everyone will know what you are, and they’ll know you let your friends and family suffer instead of you. People will hate me. But they’ll hate you even more.

He was right of course. I had no doubt he had the evidence to go to the media and that would destroy me. Before I could reply, another message came through.

Or you listen to your special programme, everyone thinks you just had a bad case of the virus. No one would hate you and, thanks to my mercy, you’d even be happy.

I thought about the last two texts all the way home. What good was my money if I was convicted of a crime. They’d probably give me a booster of the virus anyway then. That’s what they were doing with many criminals these days. And if I waited longer more of my friends would suffer for me. As much as I cared about myself, I didn’t really want that. And I especially didn’t want people knowing I allowed that. Now I understood why Ricky listened to the programme. He’d had no choice either. I also thought about how Ricky ended up, his life now as a dumb as a post toddler. Was that what this guy had planned for me too? Definitely.

Sitting in my living room I looked at the file on my phone. It was actually called Happy Toddler. I plugged in my ear buds, slipping them into my ears. A file especially for me. Should I listen to it? Or should I investigate more, try to narrow down the suspects, catch the bastard before it was too late? No, there was no time. He was too far ahead of me. He’d planned this out the way I planned out my hits, probably better. I had to admit, it was actually pretty impressive.

I tapped the file icon, waiting as it loaded. Fear and anticipation had my whole body shivering with an adrenaline rush, my fight or flight response going haywire. A new window opened on my phone and the whole screen was filled with swirling colours.

If you are listening to this file it’s because you have decided to become a good little boy. When you finish this file you will be a very happy, playful and affectionate two year old boy. Your brain will struggle to retain any new information once all your intelligence has been removed. You will learn only the most basic of tasks and very, very slowly. But you will remember everything from before listening to this file. You will understand what you have given up by listening. If you continue to listen now, you accept there is no turning back, no possible reversal.

I sat still, my heart fluttering, my stomach doing flip-flops.

Very good. You’ve made a wonderful choice. The process is going to feel wonderful and when it is done you will know you’ve made the right choice. Now look deep into your screen, look right into the colours and take a nice deep breathe for me…

I woke up with a profound sense of disorientation. I wasn’t in my house anymore, I wasn’t holding my phone or listening to the voice. I was sitting in the back seat of a car. Not my car though. No, someone else’s. I could feel the seat belt across my chest and stomach. I wasn’t wearing a shirt. I wiggled my toes on the floor, yep no shoes either. But at least I still had shorts on.

“Welcome back.”

The voice jolted me into full awareness. The man in the front seat was familiar. He smiled back at me and then I knew who he was.

“You work for Oranga Tamariki,” I declared.

He nodded. “Good job. Aren’t you a clever little one!”

I didn’t know his name, but I’d met him several times through my work. That explained a lot. He wasn’t some expert hypnotist who I somehow didn’t know about. He just had access to the hypnotic programmes Oranga Tamariki was rumoured to have. Apparently they were very real, and I’d just watched one that had been modified, corrupted by this bastard.

“But, why are you… what the hell is this about?”

He jerked his head at my companion. I wasn’t alone in the backseat after all. Another young man was sitting next to me, wearing just a pair of pull-ups, nibbling the tips of his fingers and cuddling a well worn looking stuffed bunny under his arm. He looked to be in his thirties, a bit tubby with short blonde hair. And then I recognised him. He was one of my marks, from maybe two years ago.

“You remember Kenny?” he asked me.

“Yeah… I mean, sort of. I… I worked with him…”

“You turned him into a dumb little toddler!” the man cut me off.

Blushing, I nodded.

“Do you even remember why?” he asked, calming down a bit.

I wanted to say yes, but there was no point lying. I’d done this too many times to remember each individual case. I could only shake my head.

“He wasn’t a cheater, he wasn’t a criminal. My brother, Ken, was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He witnessed a hit and run where a young woman was killed, he did the right thing and gave his statement to the police. He was supposed to testify in the trial, but a week before his court date he suddenly had a severe case of the virus. They said it was of a rare type that permanently crippled the mind.

“Everyone else believed it of course. With so many adult toddlers roaming around, who notices one more? But I knew it was too convenient. I worked so hard trying to get him to remember, trying to get a name from him, anything. But you did your work too well. He couldn’t string a sentence together, never mind describe to me what happened to him.

“So I’ve cared for him ever since. It’s not been easy. You made him a wild boy, a rambunctious, hyper little tot. He climbs on everything, gets into everything, makes a filthy mess out of himself every single day. He’s wearing pull-ups because he still isn’t fully potty trained. He’s not wearing anything else because you turned him into a nudist. Was it for your own jollies? Was that because whoever ordered the hit asked for it? I think it was the former. Regardless that’s what you did. And now my once well dressed, modest, quiet brother, the ultimate introvert, runs screaming around the house buck naked, jerking off whenever the feeling strikes him, pissing in the backyard like a puppy more often than actually using the toilet like a proper man. He goes to daycare in a t-shirt and pull-up and gets those off the moment a back is turned. I don’t bother fighting it anymore.

“But eventually I caught on. I looked for similar behaviours in virus victims found wandering in public. Eventually I was able to prove these weren’t virus victims at all, and that meant hypnosis. There’s a small pool of people who are accomplished enough at hypnosis to do that and so I started examining all of them. And that’s how I found you, living well above your means, clearly getting income you didn’t earn through your normal work. I followed you, just the way you hunt your victims. And well, here we are.”

He had me dead to rights. And yet I was still sitting here, still mentally intact. Was there a way out perhaps? Did he want an apology, to his brother?

“So if you know all of that, why are we here?” I asked.

“Well we’re here because this is your new home,” he explained, gesturing to the house to our left.

It was a run-down looking state house with toys littering the front yard.

“They have six other foster children,” he explained. “I’ve investigated them three times for various complaints. My favourite one being that they let their charges run around naked in the front yard, even on the street, in full public view. They promised to change their ways, but I know they haven’t. Welcome home buddy.”

I swallowed hard. This was the worst kind of place. I knew of foster homes like this and I had only once intentionally placed a mark in one of them and I actually felt guilty about doing it despite being paid extra for the service.

“Please, don’t…” I began.

“Don’t waste your breath Jake. It’s already done. You should just be happy I’ve kept my word about it being painless, being pleasurable actually. I will give you that one thing. As hard as you made my life with my brother, Kenny himself has been happy as a clam since the day you did this to him. He is perpetually smiling, giggling, blowing kisses and giving cuddles. So I’m going to allow you that as well.”

There was no way out. Why hadn’t he just done it? To torture me longer obviously. Well I was done with that.

“Look if you’re going to do it, just be done with it,” I told him.

“Oh I’m not going to do anything to you,” he replied.

“What?”

He shook his head. “No, I think it’s only fair that he’s the one who takes you down,” he explained, gesturing to Kenny.

I looked over at the tubby man beside me, drooling down his chin as he played with his toes, pulling his foot back and forth. He was going to regress me? How was that even possible?

“Kenny,” my assailant prompted him, making the drooling man baby look up, forgetting his fun toes for a moment at least. “You want Jake to be a happy boy just like you, don’t you?”

Kenny smiled and nodded.

“Okay then, go ahead, just like I showed you. Whenever you’re ready, make Jake’s big boy thoughts go bye-byes,” he instructed.

The toddler man let his foot go and leant across the car. I retreated into door, pressing my body against him, but it was child locked and I couldn’t get out. Kenny looked so happy to be doing this, like he was actually helping me. He leant right over and planted his lips on my forehead, giving me a big, wet, kiss.

And I felt it, a wave of static and fuzz blasting into my brain through my forehead, as though transferred by the kiss. I was being dumbed down too now. All the times I’d done it, I’d always wondered a bit, what it felt like for them. So many times now I’d watched their eyes glaze over, their faces slacken as the adult intellect and maturity faded away. It was incredible to realise I was experiencing it now myself.

“Good job Kenny,” the man praised him. “Look at that, he’s already forgetting those big boy worries and once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.”

Of course a part of me wanted to fight it. But another part of me knew that wouldn’t work. There was no fighting this. My brain was going night-nights and it was going to feel so good. The pleasure was real too. It coursed through my whole body, felt absolutely wonderful. I was getting aroused. I was finally going to know what it felt like to be a big toddler. It was the greatest secret and I was going to know the answer! I needed it to happen, I wanted it to happen. I knew deep in my core that I wanted this. What would it feel like? What went through a toddler’s mind?

My penis got hard in my shorts, stretched them out. I could feel the end coming, the big shift. I didn’t want to stop it though. I moaned out loud, that’s how great the sexual pleasure coursing through me was. I reached into my shorts and gripped my warm, hard penis. And I stroked it. Up and down, faster and faster. The man in the front watched me hungrily, with great anticipation. Kenny was hopping up and down on his seat, held back only by the belt. They wanted it as much as I did now.

I came with huge force. And for a shining second I understood that I hadn’t actually wanted this. That was the suggestions, twisting my mind, making me help in my own demise. Of course I didn’t want this, didn’t want to be a drooling dumb baby man. I wanted respect, money, power. And looking at that house, I knew all those things would be taken away from me. A toddler had no power at all, he was totally dependent on his caregivers. That house meant there would be no money either. I would be downright poor. And nobody would respect a boy too dumb to even dress himself properly, a man who ran around naked. I was losing everything.

Warm cum splashed across my tummy and chest. A glob struck the bottom of my chin. I grunted and my whole body convulsed. It was the greatest orgasm of my life.

I like the way the grass feels between my toes. I wiggle them and it kind of tickles. It’s a nice sensation. I lean forward to grab some of the grass, to taste it. I like tasting things. My pee-pee brushes through the grass when I lean forward. I giggle, that’s better than the tickles ‘tween my toesies.

“Jakey, come on now!” Mummy calls.

I stand up. My pee-pee jiggles around. I love how that feels. I hop up and down in the grass. My pee-pee is all bouncy! There’s a man walking by the front fence. He looks at me, at my bouncy doodle. I wave at him. I want him to know too. “Bounthy pee-pee!” I shout. He smiles and waves but then he keeps walking. I want to walk on the street too, with the big people. That’s a no-no, cuz I’m too little. But I used to be big. I should be able to walk there too.

“Jakey, get your butt in here this instant!” Mummy uses her angry voice.

Mummy is cross. I don’t like when Mummy is cross with me. She smacks my bottom. She says it helps that I always have a bare bum-bum cuz it’s easier to smack when I’m a naughty boy.

I hurry inside. I’m a good walker. I’m not a little baby. I go inside and Mummy is looking at me with her angry face.

“About time. You know we have an important appointment with the therapist. Now, let’s go,” she said.

I’m ready to go, but Mummy holds up my pull-ups. I get frowny.

“Dun’ wanna!” I tell her.

“Jakey you know you can’t go bare bummed to the therapist. Now get over here and let Mummy dress you.”

It wasn’t fair! I felt so angry. Mummy didn’t understand, she was a grown-up, she didn’t know how good it felt for little boys like me to be nakey. It just felt so, so good when my pee-pee was free. It was the best feeling in the world. I stamped my foot and shouted, “Nakey Jakey!”

Mummy came over and grabbed my arm real tight. It was all ouchy. But worse was what came next. She smacked my bum. Ouch! She did it twice!

“So is it going to be a bare bum getting smacked, or will we wear pull-ups?” she asked.

I pointed to the pull-ups, feeling tears drip down my cheeks. I don’t like ouchies on my bottom. Mummy helped me step into my pull-ups, then she took my hand really tight and we walked out to the street. I liked that part of it, being on the big person street, going for a walk. The big people weren’t like me though, they weren’t holding someone’s hand and they had clothes on and shoes. But I didn’t want those. I loved how the warm, gritty pavement felt under my feet. Those grown-ups didn’t know how good that felt. Silly grown-ups.

We got to take the bus today. I love taking the bus. There are lots of grown-ups and big kids on the bus. And I look out the window and see so many things. Things I can’t begin to understand or describe. I point to some of them and tell Mummy, “Look!”

After a long adventure on the bus and a walk on the really big city street, we got to the building Mummy was taking us to. Grown-ups looked at me a lot in the big city. They pointed and said things, but I couldn’t follow their words.

Finally we went into the therapist’s office. I sat on a soft chair and Mummy was next to me. The therapist man wore a shirt and tie. He had kind eyes and I liked him right away. I remember that I was a therapist man when I was big and smart. But I don’t really know what that means. I think I worse big grown-up clothes and sat at a desk just like him. That doesn’t seem real though, that feels like make believe, like imagination. But I can’t even imagine what it would be like to wear a shirt and tie like the therapist man, or to sit at a desk.

“So, what’s the main problem?” the man asks Mummy.

“He’s not keeping up with the other kids in his daycare and the Oranga Tamariki people are worried. I’m afraid they’ll blame me, do another damn investigation. I’m telling you it ain’t nothing I’m doing to him.”

The man nods. He understands Mummy. I don’t. I can’t follow that many words.

The man looks at me, he smiles and says, “Hello Jakey. I’m Ben and I’m here to help you, okay?”

He has a kind voice too. I like him. I nod.

“Good. Now, I’m just going to ask you some questions and I want you to answer for me as best you can. Okay?”

I nod again.

“Okay. Can you point to your head for me.”

I know my head. I point to it and the man nods. I was right. I feel very smart!

“Now how about your toes.”

I love my toes! I definitely know them. I grab my foot and wiggle them for him to see.

“Toesies!” I tell him.

He chuckled and nods.

“Good, and can you tell me how many toes you have on that foot?”

I blink. I don’t understand the question. How many? What’s that mean? I look at my toes again. They’re so wiggly. I wonder if they still taste like grass from earlier. I pull them into my mouth and suck on them. No, not really like grass.

“Eww, Jakey don’t eat your feet! You’ve just been walking all over the city, they’re filthy boy!” Mummy warns and pulls my foot out of my mouth.

“Don’t worry about it, I see that more than you might think,” the therapist assures her. “Now, let me run a few more tests.”

The therapist man told Mummy I wasn’t getting bigger. He thinks something is wrong with my head. Mummy called it a boo-boo in my head, one she can’t kiss better. I giggle because I already knew that. I knew something Mummy didn’t! I not gonna get bigger and every time I think about that, it makes me feel so tingly and good, especially in my pee-pee. I ripped my pull-ups off when I got home, so when my pee-pee tingles everyone can see it getting bigger. That’s okay, that’s normal. My brothers Jamie and Ollie are little like me, so they love running around nakey sometimes too. I don’t think they like it as much as me though. Mummy calls me Nakey-Jakey, the family nudist. But brothers’ pee-pees get big when they’re happy too. When doodles get big, we tug on ‘em, we make ‘em do sticky squirts. Mummy don’t like it, but it’s worth an ouchy bum. And now my pee-pee is extra happy, because the therapist man said I won’t get big again. I’m such a lucky boy! I grab my pee-pee and tug. Brothers giggle because they know what I’m doing, they know how good it feels. It’s naughty, but it’s so nice.

I tug and tug until, ugh, ohh, I start to make squirts....

And in that moment I become fully, completely aware of what has happened. It happens every single time I orgasm, every time I masturbate myself or, worse, one of my brothers gives me a handy. For a moment it all comes back and I know how fall I’ve fallen. It’s another curse that bastard left me with. For a few seconds as my back arches and I moan out loud I’m not feeling pleasure, I’m taking in my new life. I’m aware that it’s been over a year since I listened to the file, since Kenny kissed my forehead and triggered my regression. I’m aware that I’m currently standing buck naked in the front yard, facing the street, where a passing postman can see me unabashedly stroking my cock. I’m aware of how dirty my body is, how embarrassing it was than everyone was staring at me walking around the city centre in nothing but the most juvenile of pull-ups, that I sucked on my own toes in front of the therapist.

It all comes crashing over me in that moment. And I actually welcome it when the fuzzy tingles shoot through my head and all the awareness slips away as quickly as it came on. It’s actually, honestly, the best part of the orgasm, the moment when that peaceful simplicity washes over my mind.

It’s a huge relief to be utterly oblivious again. I can drop to my bare bottom in the grass, completely unaware of what just happened. I notice two big blobs of my stickies have landed on my toes and without a moment’s hesitation they’re right back in my mouth. But I don’t know what I look like now, I don’t notice the postie looking over the fence at this sight. I’m just enjoying the feeling of my salty, sticky toes wiggling in my mouth and the grass brushing my bottom. Instead of shame and anger, I smile around the toes, grin up at the man shaking his head at me. In the end, that ignorance really is bliss.

After the Pandemic

Chapter 4
The Therapist

End Chapter 4

Reviews/Comments

To comment, Join the Archive or Login to your Account

The AR Story Archive

Site Map

Contact Us

After the Pandemic

Chapter 4The Therapist

End Chapter 4

Reviews/Comments

To comment, Join the Archive or Login to your Account

The AR Story Archive

Site Map

Contact Us

Chapter 4
The Therapist