Sex.

Melinda Vester loved sex.

She became a stripper, and discovered it was very lucrative. She discovered it was even more lucrative when she gave out extra favors to well-paying clients, and so she barely noticed it when she also became a whore.

But not just any whore.

A high-class one.

Melinda didn't just give her body to anyone. She gave herself on yachts, and in mansions, and in cozy back rooms of fancy nightclubs. She earned up to 2,000 credits a night. She was incredibly successful.

The job had hazards, of course. With every client, there was a risk of disease, for example. But nowadays there was a cure to most every kind of social disease, so the risk was minimal.

So Melinda thought.

One day, she was on Michael Burnhem's boat. He was a tall, muscular black man who had had a very successful career playing nuclear basketball for the Santa Monica Aardvarks. She should have noticed something about Michael's smile which was unusual. "I have a surprise for you," he had said.

"Oh? I love surprises."

Usually, that meant a bonus, like a necklace, or earrings.

But as Michael guided her to the bedroom on his yacht, she realized it was one of those kind of surprises. He probably wanted anal. Well, he would have to pay extra for that.

But Michael surprised her again by just having the most typical kind of sex. He got to it quickly enough, without the usual foreplay, which should have been another warning sign.

They had sex in the dim light of his cabin. Melinda tried to wrap her arms around his back, but Michael pulled back for some reason. In general, he was acting a little strange. But then he got down to business. As he was plowing into her, she felt something odd inside of her. She frowned, but didn't give it much thought, until Michael cried out, and climaxed.

And then, as Michael pulled out, she felt it.

Something, a creepy crawling something, inside her vagina, which was crawling out of it now, snaking at the edge of her labial lips. Melinda cried out and tried to pluck it away, whatever it was, but Michael suddenly held her down, preventing her from using her arms.

"Hey!" she said, trying to move. "Let me go!"

"In just a moment," said Michael.

She felt the thing, whatever it was, moving to her clitoris. For a moment it almost felt good, like she was being stimulated.

It did feel good. She was being stimulated.

"Ah," said Melinda, lying back.

"Ah," she said again, as she felt it. It was like lips, sucking her gently down there.

"Good girl," said Michael, releasing her as he saw her body relax. "That's a good girl."

"What's happening to me?" said Melinda, feeling one orgasm after another.

"You're being trained," said Michael, and then by chance he turned his back on her for a moment, and she saw something, a big round something pulsating on her back.

But Melinda didn't have time to think about it, because she felt wave after wave of pleasure in her clitoris. This continued for several minutes. Her eyes rolled up into her head, and she had a smile of pure bliss on her face.

"Did you enjoy that?" Michael asked, sometime later.

Melinda nodded. But she still sat cross-legged and opened her folds to see what was there.

It looked like some kind of worm, wrapped around her clitoris. She reached with two fingers to pluck it out, but she felt a sharp stab of pain, when she pulled on it. Taking a deep breath, she tried to pull it from the other side. This time the pain was even more intense, like her clitoris was being cut in half.

"No, you can't do that," said Michael.

"What... what is it?" she asked.

"It is part the Hive," said Michael. "Soon you will be too." He smiled at her. "You can get dressed now."

Melinda got dressed and left. She didn't even wait to collect her payment. She would go to the doctor tomorrow and get this thing removed.

When she got home she looked at it under a good light in the bathroom. It was indeed a worm, snaked around her clitoris. It was so sensitive now that when she even tried to touch it, she would wince in pain. No, better to let Doctor Smithers handle this.

She reached for her comm, and started to speak his name to the dialer. "Doctor-" but her voice was cut off, and the comm dropped from her hand, as she felt a stabbing pain in her vagina. She fell to the floor, grabbing her crotch.

The pain slowly dissipated. It was impossible to ignore the connection. This worm... this thing inside of her was intelligent. It knew she was calling the doctor. There was no way it could know, but it did.

How could she get it off of her?

Melinda got in her air car and started to drive, apparently aimlessly. But her route took her closer and closer to the local hospital. When the parking lot was in sight, she was about to turn into it, when she felt a stabbing pain in her groin. She cried out and slammed the brakes, shopping short and barely avoiding behind hit by the car behind her.

It knew.

Melinda went home. She picked up her comm and decided to call Jenelle. Jenelle would know what to do. Jenelle was an experienced whore who had taken Melinda under her wing one night while they were sharing some high grade synthetic Weed.

Melinda picked up the comm and started to say "Jenelle", when again she was incapacitated by a sharp pain. She put down the comm.

"All right, all right," she said, rubbing her crotch. "I get the message. What is it you want from me?"

Suddenly, as if in answer, an image formed in her brain. An image of Michael.

The thing wanted her to go back to Michael.

Maybe Michael would remove it. He would surely want something in return, of course, but at this point, Melinda would do virtually anything to get it off.

So she got in her air car and started off to the pier. As she got closer and closer she started to feel a light stimulation on her clitoris. It felt good. She realized she was being rewarded for choosing the proper path.

When she got on Michael's boat, he seemed unsurprised to see her.

"What will it take to get this thing off me?" she asked.

"Come inside and I'll show you," said Michael.

She cautiously followed him inside. He again took her to his dimly lit cabin.

"Please lean against the wall, please," said Michael pleasantly.

It was something kinky. She knew it. Melinda leaned with her back against the wall.

"No, the other way," said Michael.

Melinda frowned at him but leaned against the wall, with her hands splayed on it.

"So nice of you to wear such a beautiful backless dress," he said, letting a hand rub against her back.

Anal. He must be going for-

Suddenly Melinda felt an odd sensation on her back. A cold, slightly wet sensation. And then the feeling of something crawling.

She knew without looking. It was another one of those creepy crawling things. It was moving up her back now.

She fled to the bathroom, and looked in the mirror. Sure enough, it was another worm, which looked identical to the first, and it was now positioned between her shoulder blades. She tried to reach with her hands to pluck it off, but she couldn't reach that far back.

"You can't remove it," said Michael casually. "Even if you could reach it, you couldn't touch it."

"What have you done to me?" Melinda cried.

"I have kept my promise," said Michael. "Look for your first one. It's gone."

Melinda, giving Michael a wary look, sat down on the toilet and lifted her dress. A woman in her profession rarely wore panties, unless the client specifically asked for it. She spread her pubic folds and looked at her clitoris. The worm was gone.

Melinda looked up at Michael, and smiled with gratitude. Then she frowned. She felt something crawling on her hip. She lifted up her dress further, and saw the first worm. It was slowly making its way to her back. She put her fingers around it, to pluck it off – and felt a terrible bolt of pain, through her body. She stumbled back on the toilet seat.

"Just relax. It will be in place in just a moment," said Michael soothingly.

It took more than a moment for Melinda to recover from the pain. When she did, she stood up and looked at her back in the mirror.

Now there were two worms, lying side by side, between her shoulder blades.

"What have you done to me?" She said."What are you doing to me?"

"I'm helping you join the Hive," said Michael. "By the way, you may want to avoid backless dresses from now on." He smiled at her. "You can go now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Michael-"

"I'll see you, tomorrow," said Michael, with a certain finality.

Melinda's mind raced as she headed home. What could she do? The creature could apparently deliver pain just as easily from her back as between her legs. Even more so. Before she could only feel pain between her legs; now she could feel it across her entire body. She spent a long time looking at the two worms in her bathroom mirror.

She was unable to tell anyone about them. She couldn't remove them. She couldn't go to the doctor. What could she do?

She was trapped.

Melinda paced back and forth the rest of the day, biting her nails. Every so often she found herself staring into space. "Momomomom," she muttered.

Mom? Why would she call her mother? Melinda was totally estranged from that bitch. She didn't approve of Melinda's career choices and Melinda certainly didn't approve of her.

She fell into an uneasy sleep.

When she woke up the next morning, she had a vague memory of odd dreams... about pancakes. Why would she dream of that? She found herself putting on a blouse that covered her back. Michael was right about one thing. She didn't want to show that off to others.

After eating a quick breakfast, she got into her air car and started driving to the pier. She hadn't decided to go back to Michael; it was as if the decision had already been made for her.

When she got there, Michael smiled and even hugged her. "So good to see you again, Melly," he said. "Come inside. I'm almost ready for you."

Melinda followed him to the cabin.

"You're a little early. I haven't quite produced what you need yet, but I think I can do it now," Michael promised, taking off his shirt. He had a masculine, manly chest which Melinda always enjoyed. But then he leaned against a wall, palms out, and Melinda saw the thing on his back.

It looked like a giant pancake. It was at least a foot in diameter, and several inches thick. It had a golden ring around the edges of it. Just beyond the perimeter of the pancake, she saw a red ring around it, like a rash.

The pancake started to move. It started to pulsate, to blob in and out, away and towards Michael's back.

"Michael... that thing on your back...."

"Everything will become self-evident in a moment," said Michael, all smiles.

Melinda watched in horror as the thing on Michael's back pulsated more vigorously as it humped his back. Michael winced as if he were being drained. She heard a tearing sound, and saw a stream of yellow fluid start to drip down the middle of his back. And then something started to emerge from the bottom of the pancake, something small and slender.

As it emerged, Melinda saw what it was.

It was another worm.

"Aaaah," said Michael, as it wormed its way out. He put his hand behind his back, and it dropped into his palm. "Take off your shirt, please."

Melinda shook her head.

Michael just looked at her.

Suddenly, Melinda felt a stabbing pain in her body. She cried out.

"Your shirt, please."

"I don't want another of those things on me!" Melinda cried in terror.

"They're not so bad," said Michael, reaching out to show it to Melinda. "And they're only temporary."

"Temporary?"

"In two days, they will be gone."

"Gone?"

"If you do what I say. Now, do I have to ask again?"

Melinda remembered the stabbing pain. She didn't want to feel it again. Reluctantly, she took off her blouse.

"Now, lean against the wall."

"Michael, no," She whispered. But then she felt another pain, across her back, like being stabbed with an ice pick, and she cried out, collapsing against the wall.

"I'm sorry you have to make things difficult on yourself," said Michael, moving behind her.

"No, Michael, please," she whimpered.

Michael dropped the worm on her back. She recoiled at the sensation. "But I think you'll find in time that it will all be more than worth it."

Melinda felt the worm moving up. Up to the place where the other worms were. She raced to the bathroom, and looked in the mirror.

All three worms were together.

And then Michael was in the bathroom, behind her. He gently touched her shoulders.

"Momomomomom," he said, softly.

Melinda was confused. But she found herself saying, "Momomomomom," in response.

"Good," said Michael. "Very good. You're progressing nicely. I'll see you tomorrow, Melinda."

When Melinda went home, she thought about what Michael was doing to her. He was putting a parasite on her to control her. But why? Michael could have her any time he wanted. What else could he possibly want from her?

During the day Melinda tended to drift off into space. "Mamoonishom," she uttered. "Momomom Mamoonishom," she said, more than once. And that night she dreamed of pancakes, again, thousands and thousands of them, flying through the air, joyfully, and reproducing in large numbers, coming out of big, round-like creatures in the ground.

The next day she drove to Michael's boat without any hesitation. He welcomed her eagerly. This time Melinda started to take off her shirt, but Michael stopped her.

"That's no longer necessary, not for you," he said. He opened his hand, and she saw it contained a worm. "Take it," he said. "Put it on the back of your neck."

Melinda saw with horror what Michael intended. He wanted her to do it to herself.

" Mamoonishom," said Michael, staring intently at her. "Mamoonishom."

"Momomomom Mamoonishom. Mamoonishom," said Melinda in response.

"That's right," said Michael. He held up the worm. "Mamoonishom."

"Mamoonishom. Momomomomom," said Melinda, and to her horror, she saw herself take the worm from Michael, and lift it up by one end.

No!

She watched, as if an observer, as she tilted her own head forward and carefully dropped the worm on the back of her neck. As it landed, she immediately felt it wriggling downwards. To join the others.

Michael gave her a strong hug. "Welcome, sister."

When Melinda got home, she looked anxiously in the mirror. Sure enough, all four worms were clustered together, lengthwise up and down her back, between her shoulder blades They seemed to be rubbing against each other, exciting each other. Were they going to produce more worms?

But her thoughts were increasingly distracted by thoughts of a colony of pancakes. She would sit and stare into space for hours, saying that mysterious word, more and more frequently. And when she went to sleep, she found she was dreaming of them again.

When Melinda got up the next morning she practically ran to the mirror. She was surprised by what she found.

The worms, all four of them, were gone.

In its place, nestled between her shoulder blades, was a small pancake.

"Mamoonishom. Mamoonishom," she said instinctively.

Suddenly she felt a whole new perspective. A whole new way of being.

Being part of the Hive. The Hive Mind.

"What is happening to me?" she asked.

"You are becoming part of the Hive Mind," she replied.

"Who said that?" Melinda asked.

"You did," said Melinda. "Everything you hear comes from within you."

"But I didn't just say that," said Melinda.

"Part of you did," said Melinda. "A part of you that will grow stronger every day, that will fill you with confidence, that will give you purpose in life."

"I have a purpose in life."

"Servicing the penises of rich clients," said Melinda scornfully. "You're little more than a pencil sharpener. What I am offering you is much more. A chance to serve the Hive. To be a part of something much greater than yourself."

"I don't know," said Melinda, staring at the pancake on her back. "I'm scared."

"Of course you are. Change is often scary. But trust me, trust yourself, and I will guide you through it," said Melinda.

"What must I do?"

"Go back to Michael. He has an incredible gift for you."

"More worms?"

Melinda chuckled. "No. Something wonderful."

So once again Melinda returned to Michael's boat, and of course, he was waiting for her. He invited her into his cabin. He took off his own shirt, just as Melinda found herself taking off her own.

"You are simply going to love this," said Michael.

And then, without any explanation, he sat down with his back to her.

His pancake was much bigger than hers, probably four times the size; if hers was about three inches in diameter (she had measured it, as best she was capable of) then Michael's was nearly a foot wide. And it was thicker too, and had two gold rings around the edges. Would her little pancake grow into something that big?

All thoughts of that were driven from her mind as Melinda, after taking off her own blouse, found herself sitting back to back with Michael. This was the first time the creature had actually taken control of her body, and it was something of a shock; she knew it could inflict pain as a worm, but as a pancake, it seemed actually capable of controlling her arms and legs. She found herself leaning backwards, until her pancake made just the slightest contact with Michael's.

"Momomomomom!" she said immediately, her eyes wide.

" Mamoonishom! Mamoonishom!" Michael cried. Momomomomom "Momomomomom Mamoonishom!" Melinda cried. "Mamoonishom!" She felt incredible pleasure flowing through her body. It was as if she were having an orgasm of immense strength, and it wasn't merely centered in her groin, but in her legs, her body, her arms, and her head. And it...