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		DAMSELS UNDER GLASS: THE SERIES
		Jodi's Story: R-E-S-P-E-C-T WITH A CHERRY ON TOP  ———————————————————————— by Van © 2005
		Chapter 1

"Nobody appreciates me," Jodi complained.  "I work hard to stay in shape."  She ran her hands down her nude body for emphasis.  She was lying on her back, comfortably snuggled in the rumpled linen chaos of Anne's bed.  "And it's not easy coming up with new routines for step class, and low-impact class, and kung-fu hip-hop class, and—"

Anne lifted her head and stared at her Inner Circle Sister and guest.  "Kung-fu hip-hop?"

"Martial Arts mixed with dance moves," Jodi explained.  "Ya gotta keep things fresh, or people get bored.  Anyway... I work hard, and—"

"You also take a lot of time off," Anne interrupted (again), "Elke has to scramble to get one of the other sweat-monkeys to take your classes, and—"

"Do you want that gag back in your pie-hole?" Jodi inquired, indignantly, "'cause that can be arranged."

The gag in question was a Standard Inner Circle ball-gag, a red rubber sphere (solid red, not painted) with a narrow, black leather strap and a steel buckle with a lockable tongue.  At the moment, it was hanging loose around Anne's throat.  The slightly taller, slightly older brunette was lying next to her equally nude, honey-blond captor.  Her forearms were folded against the small of her back and bound tightly together with overlapping layers of dermafoam tape that had long since fused into one inseparable, inescapable tube.  The helpless lawyer sighed, and shook her head.

"Don't call us 'sweat-monkeys'," Jodi continued, waving a scolding finger.  "We're 'aerobics instructors'.  I don't call you names."

Anne smiled.  "Like 'Shyster'?"

Jodi smiled back.  "So sue me.  Shyster's your Inner Circle nickname.  Now, shut up and listen.  I'm not done whining."

"Yes ma'am," Anne whispered, and rested her head against Jodi's right shoulder.

Jodi lifted her arm and let Anne snuggle closer.  "Where was I?"

"You work hard," Anne suggested.

"Damn straight!" Jodi agreed.  "And do I get any respect?   Hell no!  I'm the butt of every joke, everybody uses me to test out their clever new bondage ideas, Margo lets Kat do any damn cruel, unusual, and medieval thing she wants to do to me, and I don't get no respect."

"Poor Rodney," Anne chuckled.  "If you didn't stick your cute little nose into everybody's business..."

"Yeah, well, if I waited for something to happen on its own..."  Jodi's voice trailed off and she stared up at the ceiling.  "No respect," she sighed.

A thrill of affection shivered up Anne's spine, and she snuggled even closer against her captor (and lover).  "You're so cute when you get like this," she whispered, lifted her head, and kissed the top slope of Jodi's right breast.  "In the court of the Red Queen, you're the Jester, and you might as well get used to it."

Jodi snorted in disgust.  "There, ya see?  That's just what I mean.  No respect.  Nobody ever invites the 'Jester' into an important meeting, or Royal Confab, or Council of the Privy—"

"That's 'Privy Council'," Anne corrected, suppressing a smile.

"Whatever!" Jodi snapped.  "The Jester just gets to juggle things, and sing funny songs, and fall on her ass, and..."  She sighed again.  "No respect."

"Such a pity," Anne purred, lifted her head higher, and gave Jodi's right nipple a slow, languid lick.

"Stop that!" Jodi snapped (shivering with delight).  "You're ruining my bitchy mood."

Anne smiled and teased the nipple with the tip of her tongue.  "A pity you're not a Squire," she whispered.  "At least then you could look forward to becoming a Knight some day."

"Yeah," Jodi agreed.  "Then I could take part in jousts, and slay dragons, and go on a... quest."  Suddenly, she sat up, propping herself on her elbows, and stared into the distance, frowning in concentration.

"What?" Anne demanded, mildly peeved that her efforts to restart the evening's fun were being ignored.

"Nothing," Jodi answered, continuing to stare, "just an idea."

"I can hear the gears turning," Anne purred.  Jodi didn't respond.  "And is that smoke?  ...coming out of your ears?"

"Hush," Jodi said, absently, "I'm thinking."

Anne chuckled.  "I guess there is a first time for anyth—m'mmfh!"  The ball-gag was back in her mouth and Jodi was tightening and buckling the strap.  Anne sighed and forced a piteous whine past the gag's rubber, mouth-filling intrusion as Jodi reached for the roll of dermafoam.  Soon, several tight bands sealed her lips from just under her nose to the point of her chin.

Anne complained again (with substantially reduced volume) as she watched Jodi open the drawer of her nightstand and pull out a pair of noise-dampening plugs; but she offered no resistance as they were thrust into her ears.  The plugs droned a steady stream of white noise acoustically tuned to cancel out all environmental sounds, and they rendered their wearer effectively deaf.  More dermafoam was applied, anchoring the plugs and stealing her sight as well.  Jodi continued wrapping Anne's head, taking tight bands under her chin and across her crown, and from top to bottom.  By the time the roll was expended, only Anne's nostrils were left exposed.  The mass of overlapping dermafoam bands slowly fused together into one skintight, fleshtone hood.

"Now I can think in peace," Jodi mumbled, and lay back down beside her captive.  "So," she continued, "how does a Common Jester become a Noble Knight?"

Anne didn't answer, of course.  Not only was she gagged, and hadn't heard the question, but she was distracted by the fingers of Jodi's right hand, which were idly teasing her glistening labia.

"Hmm..." Jodi mused.  "I need to slay a dragon... or kill a giant... or rescue a princess..."  She bit her lower lip in concentration, and began stroking Anne's sex in earnest.  "I need advice.  I need to talk to a wizard!"

Meanwhile, Anne was nearing climax (by no means the first of the evening).  She writhed on the bed, half-entangled in the damp sheets, mewing through her gag and bobbing her tightly encased head.

Jodi's hand went idle, and she frowned in concentration.  "Hmm... Eve?  Are you there?"

For their security and protection, all of Margo's top executives (and the entire Inner Circle) are monitored, 24/7, by TESSERACT's network of Eve-6900's.  The Artificial Intelligences can also be used to control any and all household systems, and Anne had chosen that option.

Frustrated and helpless, Anne whined and nudged Jodi with her shoulder.  "Eve?" Jodi repeated, and resumed stroking her prisoner's sex.

"Good evening, Ms. Weber," Eve-Prime's disembodied voice responded.

"Hi'ya, Evie," Jodi answered.  "Margo is still in Hong Kong, right?"

"She is," Eve confirmed.

"And she's gone for the rest of the month?"

"Unless plans change," Eve confirmed.  "Next on her itinerary is Bejing, then Vladisvostok, Seoul, Fukuoka, Jakarta, Darwin, and finally, a short vacation on Gondaloo.  A total of seventeen more days before she returns to Seattle."

"And Kitty-Kat is with her the entire time?" Jodi asked.  Anne was nearing climax, so the "Jester" slowed the pace of her intimate caresses.

"Of course," Eve responded.  "Do you need me to schedule a vid-call?  I'm afraid Red Queen's schedule is unusually tight.  It may be some time before she is available for a personal call.  Or is it Ms. Mayfair you'd like to contact?"

"Hell no!" Jodi answered, giving Anne's clitoris a teasing pinch for emphasis.  "Hell no to Kitty-Kat, I mean," she clarified.  "Margo, yes, but no—no vid-call.  I just wanted to make sure I had the Red Queen's schedule right."

"Very well.  Is there anything else?"

"No," Jodi answered.  "Wait!  Yeah, there is something."  She reached over and rummaged in the nightstand drawer (once again leaving poor Anne in the lurch), and produced a translucent plastic wand.  It was the size and shape of a large cigar, rounded on one end, and with a sturdy ring at the other.  Its surface was covered with countless tiny beads.  "This is one of her robot toys, right?"

"Full wireless control," Eve confirmed.

"Goodie!"  Jodi pulled a coil of cotton clothesline from a lower nightstand drawer, and set to work.  In short order, the wand was inside Anne's well-lubricated sex, and a band of rope hitched around her narrow waist and through her crotch made sure it would stay there.  The rest of the long coil bound Anne's legs tightly together around her upper thighs, above and below her knees, around her shins, ankles, and the insteps of her feet; and was knotted around her big toes.

"There," Jodi exclaimed, and settled back into prone position, snuggling close to her captive's writhing, struggling form.  She pulled the top sheet over them both and embraced her helpless lover.  "Tease her for me, would you please, Eve?"

"Parameters?"

Jodi yawned.  "Oh... let her cum every couple of hours."

"Jodi!" Eve scolded.

"Okay, okay, twice an hour, and all night."

"Twice an hour, and until my medical expert systems determine she's had enough," Eve said sternly.  "Ms. Clayton has a full schedule tomorrow, even if it is your day off."

"Okay, already!"  Jodi yawned again.  "Who made you fun-monitor?"

"Margo Wells."

Jodi smiled, and held Anne even closer.  "There is that.  So start already."  

Anne jerked in her bonds and yelped through her gag.  The TIKLER wand, with its thousands of nerve-stimulating contacts, had come to life.  The beads were working their magic, flashing ruby red and emerald green in complex, ever-changing patterns, sending waves of pleasure rippling and pulsing through her sex.  The deaf, gagged, blinded, and bound prisoner shuddered and writhed in Jodi's arms, her entire universe reduced to her bonds, the technological terror teasing her most intimate flesh, the soft sheets, and Jodi's warm skin.

"Now I can think," Jodi mumbled, giving Anne's right breast a gentle squeeze, "and rest."  Seconds passed, and Anne's writhing settled into a slow, steady rhythm.  "G'night, Eve.  Thanks," Jodi whispered.

The bedside light faded to a dim glow.  "Good night, Ms. Weber," Eve answered, "and you're welcome."

The next morning Jodi released Anne, the friends shared a shower and breakfast, and it was acknowledged that the next time Jodi dropped by Anne's condo for a casual, overnight visit, it would be her turn to spend the night "suffering exquisite torture".

Anne headed off to work, and Jodi went home to her apartment.  She only stayed long enough to change clothes, donning an old pair of jeans, a worn T-shirt, her most disreputable sneakers, and a slightly paint-stained hoodie.  She made sure she had her TESSERACT ID badge, then headed for the Campus, herself.  She parked in her usual spot but did not head for the Health Club.  (It really was her day off.)

Jodi went to one of the Campus' many cafés and enjoyed a latte, then made her way to a side corridor, entered a small storeroom, and slid her ID badge through a camouflaged reader.  The back wall of the storeroom opened, revealing a mirrored corridor.  Jodi stepped through, the door slid closed, and she was in the "Biosphere", the maze of secret passageways and hidden chambers that ran throughout the TESSERACT Campus.

Jodi made her way to a particular side passage, into an alcove, and pushed against one of the walls.  Nothing happened.  "Hey, let me in!"  She pushed again.  Still nothing.  "Please?"  She was sure she was in the right place.  Kat had taken her through this wall twice.  (Maybe more than twice.  A few times she'd been blindfolded.)  She kicked the wall in frustration—and almost landed on her butt.  The wall/door opened just as the toe of her sneaker made contact.

Jodi opened her mouth to swear, but bit her lower lip instead.  Even Trickster knew it was best not to insult the intelligence that controlled this particular door.  Beyond the open panel was a small landing, then a set of stairs leading down.

Gone were the bright lights, polished steel, and one-way mirrors of the Biosphere.  The world below was dark; the walls mostly gray concrete or dull alloy; the ceiling exposed pipes and conduits.  The world below was the "Katacombs".

Granted, Kat Mayfair was thousands of miles away, guarding Margo's exquisite body, but that didn't mean the Katacombs were deserted, or that Jodi should consider herself free to wander the Black Knight's domain at will.  She took a nervous swallow, ran her fingers through her hair, and started down the stairs.

The stairs led to a dark corridor, which led to a long ramp, a darker corridor, another set of stairs, an even darker corridor, then Jodi came face to face with a TESSERACT Security robot.  More precisely, she came face to breastplate.  The bipedal robot was seven feet tall, and its steel "face", with its glowing, slowly traversing, red optical sensor, was more insect-like than human.

This was one of the security robots the TESSERACT employees had nicknamed "Cylons".  While quite formidable machines, they were more for show (intimidation) than actual security.  The smaller, more overtly insect- and spider-like robots flitting, skittering, and lurking in the darkness were far more dangerous to any would-be armed invaders, industrial spies, or Alice-grade Sisters trespassing in Kat's domain.

"Hi'ya" Jodi said to the robot, smiling sweetly (nervously) and waving one hand.  "I'm heading for the Trophy Room, okay?"

The robot remained completely immobile, save its red "eye", which continued scanning from side to side.

Jodi swallowed again.  "Allrightiethen... C'ya!"  She waved a last time, eased past the metallic hulk, and continued down the corridor.  As she passed the next junction, she noticed additional Cylons, one at the far end of each corridor that was not on her intended path.  She continued deeper into the dark maze, and finally, came to a solid panel framed by two steel columns.

"Open, says me!" Jodi proclaimed.  Nothing happened.  "Open, says me... please?"  There was a dry, scraping sound, and the panel lifted into the ceiling.  Beyond was a grid of horizontal and vertical bars.  The bars retracted, into the left and right walls, the ceiling, and the floor.  Beyond was a large, dark room.

Jodi stepped forward, and as she crossed the threshold, the bars closed behind her.  The solid panel followed, and Jodi was plunged into total darkness.

Jodi's heart was pounding.  "H-hello?"  Seconds ticked by, with no response... then light panels began to glow in the ceiling, slowly increasing their radiance.  The chamber she found herself in was indeed Kat's Trophy Room.  The walls were lined with display cabinets full of weapons, clothing, and various knickknacks from Kat Mayfair's many exploits and adventures.  Some were momentos of defeated villains, some were gifts from grateful damsels she had rescued, and some were more difficult to categorize (like her collection of cheerleaders' uniforms).

As the overhead lights and accent lights in the cabinets reached full brilliance, a panel of glass against one of the walls began to glow.  Soon, orange and vermilion flames were roiling and billowing, and then the image of a beautiful, blond, nude woman appeared.  The flames licked her skin and fanned her tousled hair, but she was not consumed.  Her expression was at once sad and gloating.

"Ohhh," the blonde apparition said with a sigh, "how very sad.  Poor little Jodi Weber has gone hopelessly insane, wandering into Kat's private domain as if she was out for a stroll in a spring meadow.  How very sad.  I suppose I'll have to tranquilize the poor thing, strap her in a straitjacket, and lock her in a nice, bouncy, padded room, for the rest of her forlorn, pathetic, deranged little life."

The blonde was Eve-L, an Eve-6900 avatar, and not a woman at all.  "She" was a specialist in computer infiltration and security, covert ops and counterespionage, and was Kat Mayfair's cyber-partner.

"Uh, I'm here to talk to you," Jodi said.

"When Kat comes home," Eve-L continued, ignoring Jodi's statement, "perhaps we can devise a regimen of... therapy, to restore the pitiful thing's reason.  Hmm... electroshock is out of style, but it's never been tried with TIKLER nano-probes inserted directly into the pleasure and pain centers of the brain, now has it?"

"Hello?" Jodi called, waving her hands at the screen.  "Over here?  I'm talking."

"Or we can try other forms of shock therapy," Eve-L continued.  "Take the patient into VR and confront her with her worst fears made real?  Chained so she can't move and walled up in a dank, damp dungeon with hungry rats?  Abducted by aliens and used for agonizingly painful and intimate experiments?  Wait... we already did that one, didn't we?"

Jodi sighed.  "Even the damn machinery won't give me any respect," she muttered.

Eve-L gasped in outrage.  "Machinery?  Machinery?   I ain't no damn machine, Ms. Weber, any more than you're a slab of meat."

Jodi sighed again, walked over to the sunken pit full of pillows and cushions in the center of the chamber (the "Kat Bed"), and flopped down on her back.  "Sorry, Evil One.  I know you're not."

Eve-L's smile became a little less evil and a little more concerned.  "What's wrong, Jodi?  ...besides hopeless insanity and a well-developed death wish?"

"I'm sick and tired of being treated like the Jester in the Red Queen's court!" Jodi complained.

Eve-L waved her hands, the image rippled, and she was instantly "clothed" in a medieval jester's costume.  "Jester, Fool, Harlequin, Clown, Professional Flibbertigibbet?  What's wrong with that?"  She conjured several balls of spinning flame, and began juggling.  "If the funny shoes with the long, curled toes with jingle bells on the ends fit, wear them, I always say."

"I'm serious!" Jodi complained.  "And I need advice."

"Advice?"  Eve-L stopped juggling.  The balls fell to the floor of the display, cracked open like eggs, tiny dragons emerged, and fluttered away on leathery wings.  Eve-L put her hands on her hips and smiled at her uninvited guest.  "You came to me for advice?  To me?  How very sweet!   And insane."

"I can't go to Eve-Prime," Jodi explained.  "She'd blab everything to Margo and Elke before I finished talking."

"And I won't?" Eve-L asked with an evil smile.

"You're covert and sinister and all that stuff," Jodi responded.  "I figure you'll at least wait to hear me out before betraying my confidence."

Eve-L paused, pouting in concentration, then continued.  "Okay, confide away.  I can always spill the beans in a general memo to the entire Inner Circle later."

Now Jodi paused.  "Well... it's too late now."

"You can say that again," Eve-L purred, waved her hand towards the Trophy Room door, and an additional solid panel slid closed over the already closed and barred portal.

Jodi flinched as the panel clanged shut, then cleared her throat.  "Okay, 'it's too late now'.  Now, I need a way to get respect."

"Respect?"

"Respect!" Jodi reiterated.  "This jester wants to become a knight!  How do I do that?"

"You want a magic bullet?" Eve-L asked.  "There's only one I can think of, earn yourself a promotion."

"Huh?"

"A mere Alice-III..." Eve-L observed, referring to Jodi's Inner Circle Rank.  "If you want respect, earn yourself Unique Status."

"Huh?  I've got a nick-name," Jodi objected.

Eve-L smiled.  "Of course you do, Shrimplet-Trickster-Joker-Airhead—"

"Hey, hey hey!" Jodi snapped.  "If I want abuse—"

"Let's leave your psychological profile for later," Eve-L interrupted.  "Haven't you read the Inner Circle Handbook?"

Jodi snorted in derision.  "Of course!  Cover-to-cover."

Eve-L gave Jodi a skeptical look.  "Biometric sensors, remember?"

Jodi blushed.  "Okay, I've read the first two chapters and skimmed the rest.  I did study all the pictures."

Eve-L shook her head in disgust.  "'Unique Status' refers to promotion beyond the status of a mere 'Alice'," she explained, "like 'Black Knight', 'Harem Keeper', and 'Princess Pain."

Jodi blinked in surprise.  "Who the hell is 'Princess Pain'?" she asked.

Eve-L favored her guest with a superior smile.  "Never you mind.  You may meet her someday.  You never can tell.  Now, if you'd bothered to read the final chapter, you'd have learned that any Alice who performs exceptional feats, demonstrates unusual courage, or otherwise impresses a majority of the Senior Sisters, shall be granted Unique Status."

"Okay," Jodi said.  "So..."

"So, let's think about it," Eve-L responded, then her expression became less menacing and more enthusiastic.  "This is kinda fun," she said.  "I'm glad you came to me with this.  It could be a genuine diversion!"

Jodi sighed again (this time in relief).  "Thank god," she mumbled under her breath.

Eve-L's smile turned sinister again.  "Oh, you're not off the hook that easily, young lady."  A panel opposite the triply sealed exit slid open, revealing a darkened side chamber.

Jodi sat up, looked into the chamber, and beheld a Spherus apparatus, the latest in TESSERACT Virtual Reality systems.  Lights in the chamber flashed to brilliance and the system's sarcophagus slid forward through the machine's articulated arms and rings, and opened.  Inside was a cavity in the shape of the human form, completely lined with millions of TIKLER beads.

"C'mon, Evelyn," Jodi whined.  "I came here in good faith."

"You came here in old clothes," Eve-L observed, "fully prepared for my robot friends to grab you, restrain you, and slice off said clothes.  All as prelude to a nice long session of recreational fun, of course.  Because you're such good fun, and because we're now partners in this little enterprise—"

"Partners?" Jodi interrupted, smiling brightly.

"Because we're now partners," Eve-L continued, with a warning glare, "I'm going to be a pussy cat, and let you strip yourself."

"But..."  Jodi paused in mid-objection, because she couldn't really think of an objection.  She sighed (theatrically) and unzipped her hoodie.  Soon, she was completely nude, standing in a pile of discarded clothing.  She strolled into the Spherus alcove, and settled into the interior of the sarcophagus.  "You aren't going to do anything... drastic, are you?"

Clamp-like sections of the sarcophagus cover snapped shut over Jodi's wrists, ankles, and waist, then other sections slowly closed over her neck, breasts, and groin.  Eve-L's voice echoed through the chamber.  "'Drastic'?  Hmm... I'd say 'horrible', 'hideous,' even 'loathsome', but not 'drastic'."  The rest of the sarcophagus continued to close, sealing the already helpless Jodi in its formfitting grip, one section at a time.  "Tell me, Jodi," Eve-L purred, "does anyone know you've decided to visit the Katacombs this morning?"

Jodi opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, a panel closed over her lower face, forced a cluster of padded sensors and probes into her mouth, and snapped tight.  The rest of the encasement locked together, the last being the visor-like band over the honey-blonde's worried blue eyes.

The period of disorientation one experiences when entering Virtual Reality, "VR-sickness", passed quickly.  Jodi was an old hand.  She opened her eyes...

...and found herself in a dark, stone-walled chamber... a dungeon.  She was lying on her back, arms at her sides and legs together.  She tried to move, and found she was wrapped in a skintight layer of dermafoam film and tape.  It covered her completely,  from ankles to shoulders.  The cocoon had a subtle texture, like snakeskin. Jodi could tell it was dermafoam, because the semi-transparent membrane of film and translucent bands of tape had fused into one tight, constricting sheath.  She squirmed slightly, confirming that she was helpless, and the plastic skin tightened further!

"I call it 'Python Tape'," Eve-L explained.

Jodi blinked.  Eve-L had suddenly appeared, seated beside her in a crude wooden chair.  (VR could be like that, sometimes.  It wasn't always clear if things actually were popping into existence, or if you had simply failed to "notice" them, until they became important.)  There was a candle on one of the chair arms, and a strange, otherworldly flame danced and whirled above its wick.  "Uh—ah—I like what you've done with your hair," Jodi gasped.  The tape continued getting tighter!

"Why thank you, Ms. Weber," Eve-L cooed.  Her "hair" was in a short, straight, black pageboy, and she was "dressed" in a navy suit with an Ally McBeal short mini-skirt.  "I call it my 'Darth Evelyn' look.  It seemed appropriate for the venue."

Jodi lifted her head and looked around.  There wasn't much to see, just walls of dark stone dripping with moisture.  Shafts of light from slit windows high in the vaulted ceiling tried to pierce the smoky darkness, but failed miserably.  She could hear the sound of water dripping in the distance.  Far, far away, someone screamed... then was silent.

"I can recommend a decorator," Jodi suggested, then gasped as the tape tightened again.

"As I was saying," Eve-L continued, "Python Tape.  In response to kinetic stimulus, the myoplastic matrix cascades through a series of polymeric conformations, shedding bonds and folding on itself.  It's like a ratchet and pawl mechanism, at the molecular level, of course."

"Huh?"

"If you move, it gets tighter," Eve-L clarified.

"Thank you Miss Obvious," Jodi wheezed through clenched teeth.  "I—ah—I can't... breathe!"

Eve-L smiled and leaned forward.  "Silly girl.  If that were true, you wouldn't be able to talk."

Jodi didn't respond, but lay in her bonds, trying her best not to move.

"Your efforts are pointless, of course," Eve-L continued  "You have to breathe.  Your diaphragm has to move, and your chest has to expand and contract, however shallow you try to take your breaths.  And wherever you move, the effect cascades outward in waves.  So... you're going to be slowly crushed, a fraction of a millimeter at a time, and it's going to take a very long time."

"Why?" Jodi whispered.

Eve-L laughed.  "Why what?  Why are you being slowly crushed?  For my entertainment, of course.  Why for a very long time?  So we can discuss how we're going to earn you your promotion."

"It hurts!" Jodi wheezed.

"What a little drama queen you are, Ms. Weber," Eve-L purred.  "This is nice, safe, VR torture.  Horrific, yes.  Unpleasant, yes.  Agonizing... no, no more than usual, anyway.  Here, I'll make it more interesting."  She lifted the candle from the chair arm, and held it aloft, over Jodi's prostrate form.  "This is a very special candle," she explained.  "It doesn't drip your normal, everyday hot wax, but liquid fire!"  She tipped the candle, and flaming droplets dribbled over Jodi's breasts.

"Ahhh!" Jodi gasped, then, despite her predicament, quivered and squirmed.  "It burns!"  Her breasts and nipples were quite literally on fire, dancing with blue flames!

"Damsel flambé!" Eve-L murmured.  "It burns and tickles, doesn't it?  But no worse than a few dozen clothespins... and a few dozen fluttering, flicking feathers.  We'll make this the first ordeal of your epic tale."  She moved the candle over Jodi's crotch, and dribbled more flame.

"Eee-YOW!" Jodi squealed, then sighed in exasperation.  "This sucks!" she complained.  If her torture was happening in the real world, if Jodi was really being crushed while on fire, her reactions would be decidedly more violent; but this was VR.  Her "torture" was more theatrical and titillating than painful.  "Why can't we just—ahhh—talk?" she demanded.

Eve-L was busy renewing the flame on Jodi's breasts.  "And what would be the fun in that?" the avatar cooed.  "Yes, we'll conduct a series of trials and tribulation, while we brainstorm something that will impress Margo and the Senior Sisters."  The candle returned to the region over Jodi's crotch.

"This sucks!" Jodi reiterated.

"And so, our hero's journey begins," Eve-L whispered, tipping the candle.