Mer's eyes turned wild, and she grimaced.  She tried to force her body to move, but there was no response from her limbs.

"Mer!  I can't move!"  Leen cried out.

"Neither can I, Leen."  She said softly, and sadly.  Then Shyla nodded.

"For the first little bit, you'll be on temporary override.  I know this feels like a betrayal, but I will explain things thoroughly in the next few minutes.  For now, put those girls on the beds and strap them down.  System, enhance their strength by thirty percent."  Shyla waited and heard Tandy's computer voice.  Both Leen and Mer had loyalty enhancement programs, so she wasn't worried this would break that loyalty.  She meant it as a test of their backup systems only, and not for it to be the wedge that separates them.

"Adrenaline enhancement active."  Mer couldn't fight her body as she grabbed the nearest girl and lifted her easily.

"Stop!"  The girl cried out.

"Make sure to put the gag in her mouth, Mer.  Leen, put the other one over here."  They obeyed without the ability to question, and put in the gags.  Leen put in her captive's gag without being asked to.  The system allowed her that level of control.  Shyla smiled and nodded.  "Now that they are out of the way, override cancelled.  Cancel strength enhancement."  She smiled softly at Mer, and looked into her eyes.  "No adverse effects from the boost.  Do you have a headache?"  Mer shook her head, and looked down at her hands.  She feel them move under her own compulsion again, so that did make her feel a bit better.  "Good.  Come over here.  I needed you to obey quickly.  Those girls couldn't be trusted in my labs.  Yet."  Mer and Leen followed her silently, but felt a bit more concern.  "Now, I know you have questions.  The first being - How did I take control of your bodies?"

"Yeah.  That's the first one."  Mer nodded.

"It was easy."  She smiled.  "Reach up and touch just behind your ear.  You should feel a small patch of rough skin."  Mer reached up, and frowned.

"I don't remember this before."  Mer said softly, while Leen looked at Shyla with an odd look.

"During the winter, so your gang wouldn't freeze to death, and so that I could enhance you, I brought you here."  Shyla reached up and flipped open a flap behind her own ear and picked up a small cable.  "System, initiate mind to mind transfer protocols.  Subjects, Leen and Mer."  Shyla plugged in the cable behind her ear.  She lifted the other end.  "Just lift the edge of that piece of skin, and I'll show you the benefits of being enhanced."  Leen turned back to the girl she lifted like she was merely a bag of groceries, then back to Shyla.

"I think I already see the benefits.  Plug me in."  Mer was shocked at her best friend's quick acceptance of her words.  She was about to say to plug her in as well, but Leen always waited until she made the first move.

Always.

"Where are we?"  Leen looked around and felt that this place was somewhat familiar.  Mer appeared at her side, and Shyla appeared in front of them both.

"This is inside a mental construct.  A place created by your brains, and the enhancements that I added."  Shyla said simply.  No embellishments either.

"Enhancements?"  Mer asked her directly.

"I have them as well.  Actually, I was the first one to get them.  I would never experiment on my girls without enduring it myself."  Leen heard her words, and felt her middle flex unconsciously.  It was her mental reaction, not a physical.

"Your girls?"  She asked quietly.

"The ones whom I've taken a liking to.  The ones who belong to me.  I protect those who belong to me."  She gestured to the world around them.  "This is the gift I give you.  Right now, you both have an interface that allows you to communicate with each other mentally, as do the rest of the girls.  When you connect to each other, and stabilize the connection, you'll be able to talk without the cable."  Leen felt her cheeks grow warm.

"Talk.  Without using words out loud.  That is a great way to coordinate a fight."  Mer said softly.

"Not only that,"  Shyla said happily.  "This place can also act as your training ground.  There are only basic chips in the interface, with simple enhancements to your abilities to read, retain information, do mathematics, and formulate plans around any situation you find yourself in.  There are more advanced chips, but those are for the ones who willingly become mine."  Shyla's eyes blazed in their minds, and they shivered.

"Become yours?"  Mer asked.

"Yes.  Loyalty.  Absolute loyalty.  There are programs that will enhance your already existing loyalty, but it's not the conditioning they will go through."  She waved a hand, and a screen appeared.  It showed the two girls they brought with them.

"Why not like theirs?"  Leen asked her, a frown on her face.

"They are disloyal to an extreme.  Your girls are loyal to you and Mer, and you are loyal to them like they are family."  Shyla explained the simple idea that actually held deeper meaning, while Mer felt this truth deep in her bones.  "Because that exists inside you, the programs will enhance that, and make it unbreakable.  The only thing that can break it is disloyalty on the part of the one it is focused on.  Rumors and accusations won't sway you.  Only evidence.  And your enhanced brains will also be able to analyze when someone has altered the evidence, or recreated a scene that wouldn't be possible without computer assistance."  Mer felt her heart beat much faster.  "Calm down, Mer.  Your mental state can affect your body."  Mer noticed how Shyla seemed to care about her, and how she felt.  That made her quite happy for some reason.

"We'll be able to analyze it?"  Leen asked her carefully.

"Yes. But only if you're willing."  Shyla then waved a hand.  "System, load karate program, level 1.  Allow Mer and Leen to access the information, and store a backup within their chips."  Mer's eyes  opened a bit wider, and knew the rest would think about a certain movie.  The reality was different from the movies though.

"Karate?"

"The basics.  When you master the basics, more advanced programs will be available.  Remember, these are only moves right now.  Programs.  Your mind will recognize them, but until you practice these skills, they won't mean much.  But if you connect to Leen, and go to sleep, you'll be able to go into training mode and practice the entire night.  Your brain will believe it's a dream, while your bodies will consider it experience.  You can practice for hours without losing steam inside your dreams.  When you come out of the training program, and wake up, you'll be able to execute those moves as if you had practiced them out in the world."  Leen heard Shyla and became more excited.

"Can we share these with the girls?"  she asked her so quickly, Shyla had to chuckle.

"When you go home, talk with them, connect with them, and explain things.  You can share your karate program with them, but for the more advanced versions, you'll both need to have the loyalty, security, and enhancement protocol programs installed.  They work together."  She explained, and waited.

"Loyalty, security, and enhancement protocol programs.  Are they what they sound like?"  Mer asked, with no modulation in her tone.

"As your loyalty to me grows, so will your access.  This..."  She gestured to the background.  "This is a gift from me to you and the girls, but I do expect something in return.  Not money or profit.  Loyalty is the currency here, and it is a commodity of great value."  She continued to watch and wait.

"You'll continue to enhance us?  If we are loyal?"  Shyla smiled.

"Yes.  That is my only price.  Send me the girls, two at a time for the loyalty, security, and enhancement protocol programs.  It will take a while as I get to know them.  The following day, they will go back home, and you can send the next couple.  The new girls should wait until they develop those feelings of loyalty now in the rest of your girls.  When they do, send them to me.  It will take a couple of months, but they will leave this lab in better shape, and completely enhanced."  Mer looked at Shyla and stepped a foot closer.

"Why?  What are we to you?"

"Right now, you're my girls.  I will protect you until you can protect yourselves.  In the future, you'll still be my girls, and you can help me protect myself, and my family from the ones who want to hurt them, and you."  Shyla's eyes smiled, and they couldn't detect any trace of deceit.  Mer stepped another foot closer.

"What are we to you?  What am I to you?"  She said softly.  Shyla smiled.

"I am a jealous woman, Mer.  None of my girls can be fucked by someone else.  You can fuck your pet, and have her go down on you, but no one can fuck you.  Only me."  Shyla said in a low voice.

"Why?"  Mer had to know.

"You belong to me."  Shyla stepped right up to her front and whispered in her ear.  "You are my girl."