Author: Sterling Title: Seminal Influences Summary: In 1968, Cyrus is an average high school geek until he makes a discovery. Men's bodies naturally encode their thoughts in their semen. Cyrus swears he's devised a drug so that a woman's cervix can decode those thoughts and memories. At first, people think it's just a boy's delusion, but they become convinced, one by one. When it finally goes public, Cyrus's magic potion turns the world upside down. Keywords: mf Mf MF cons het ScFi hs mind-reading para humor NOTICE: This story contains explicit sex. First posted 4/9/2012. I'm always eager for comments, whether good, bad or mixed. Comments to sterling27@live.com. I have written many other stories and they can all be found at /files/Authors/Sterling/ For an index see /files/Authors/Sterling/A%20%20SUBJECT%20INDE X.txt You are welcome to copy this story if you include the entire text unchanged, including this notice. If you tell me where you have re-posted it, I can enjoy knowing it is appreciated and perhaps enjoy the feedback the story gets where you re-post it. Sterling And now, our feature presentation. Enjoy! ============================================================ Seminal Influences Chapter 1 "Hey, Bethany!" "Oh, hi, Cyrus." Cyrus White was a flaming geeky nerd. Bethany McCarthy was sort of a popular girl, but always trying to scrabble a little higher in the social standings. But Bethany had sought him out as a lab partner in chemistry, and it worked out well. He knew everything without trying, so she essentially copied his lab reports. He was always willing to explain anything she wanted. As a result, her grades were up. It wasn't cool to be seen with a flamboyant nerd anywhere else, but people saw the advantages of having one for a lab partner. Cyrus would love to get into her pants, Bethany knew. A lot of boys wanted to get into her pants, of course, but flaming nerds were even more clueless than the average boy about hiding it. Cyrus was a gentleman, though -- harmless in that regard. If only one of the cool guys like Jake or Sam were interested in her... Her pants were not off limits to the right boyfriend, asking the right way at the right time. "I've been working on biochemistry, you know?" "Yeah, I remember." "Did you know that the secretions of the prostate gland are very complicated?" "Um, well, if you say so." "It turns out that a man's memories get encoded in the proteins that his prostate gland makes. And with the right receptors, it ought to be possible for someone else to read those memories out of the proteins!" "Um, really, that's interesting. Why do you say 'a man'? Are you still in the 1950s or something? How about 'a person'?" "Oh, well, um, you know what the prostate gland is?" "No, something about helping you lie down?" "No, it's something only males have." "Yeah, right." "No, really! It's part of their -- our -- reproductive system. It makes one of the components of semen." "Mmm-hmmmmm." "A male's ejaculate contains sperm cells but lots of other things too, and the secretions of the prostate gland are the most complicated." "Why are you telling me this, Cyrus?" "Oh, well, you see... the natural organ that could receive those memories would be the cervix -- you know what that is?" "What kind of an idiot do you think I am?" "Oh, I don't think you're an idiot. It's just you didn't know about the prostate gland." "Well, they're hardly the same kind of thing." "Whatever. Anyway, I have this chemical I've synthesized that should change a cervix so it can read the memories encoded in the semen! It's not as hard as you might think..." "Yes, and?" "Well, I was hoping to try it out." "Oh really?" "Yeah! And I thought that, like, you're always wishing you could understand electron shells a little better. I was thinking that if we tried this experiment and it worked, you'd know more!" "And just how does this experiment work?" She'd reel him in slowly. "Well, the idea is that you'd drink this stuff" -- Cyrus brought out a small vial -- "then I'd put some of my semen against your cervix, and we'd see how it goes." "And how are you proposing to put your semen against my cervix?" "Oh, well," said Cyrus, coloring. "I suppose I could, um, masturbate and give you the, um, ejaculate to insert, I guess that would work. But the more robust experimental condition would be for me to apply it directly to your cervix while the semen is very fresh. You know, a penis is perfectly designed to help deliver semen right to a cervix without the need of any implements, right? Sometimes a cervix is hard to reach with a finger, but a penis is just the right length --" "I get the picture, Cyrus!" snapped Bethany. "That's the most pathetic pick up line ever! And only a nerd would think of it!" "Oh, um, gosh, I guess it might seem that way, but it's true! I think there's potential here for something big!" "And how would it feel to you to deposit this semen right where you want it to go?" "Oh, well, as a scientific experiment, that doesn't really enter into it, but I guess it would probably feel pretty good. But you might like it too, you know. The books say that with proper stimulation and technique, a girl can also receive pleasurable sensations --" "Cyrus!" said Bethany heatedly. "If you want to fuck me, why don't you just ask me?" "But I don't! That's not the point!" "You don't find me attractive?" said Bethany with a pout, toying with her prey. "Oh, well, yes, very much!" said Cyrus with enthusiasm. "I had just read that girls don't usually want to engage in sexual intercourse unless an emotional relationship exists as well -- or unless the boy is really very attractive himself." "Well, you never know until you ask." "You want me to ask you?" "Only if you want to." "OK." Cyrus took a deep breath. "Bethany, would you let me engage in sexual intercourse with you?" "No!" Cyrus looked confused. "But... but why did you have me ask if you were going to just say no?" "Because I wanted to have the fun of saying it to you. 'No, no, no!'" "That's not very nice of you." "Well, your story about coming in my pussy to help me with my chemistry isn't very nice either!" "Oh, forget it," fumed Cyrus. "It's real, though, I promise. I'm not making it up." The thing was, Bethany knew Cyrus was sincere. He might be crazy, but he was sincere. He really thought he could improve her understanding of chemistry that way. --------------------------------------------------------- Bethany couldn't get Cyrus's idea out of her mind, and she hatched a devious plan. Anne Waters was not a popular girl. She didn't know how to dress right or wear makeup or get a decent hairstyle, so she should have posed no threat. But she was naturally pretty, and some of the boys took notice, even the ones who should know better. She was also not very smart, and she moaned that her parents were constantly pressuring her to improve her grades. She studied a lot, but it didn't seem to do her much good. She went on dates sometimes, and the boys seemed interested in her innocent good nature. A popular boy who took her as his girl could lift her up the social ladder in one fell swoop. She said she was determined to stay a virgin through high school -- and holding out was good for a girl's position. But if she let a guy nail her casually, she'd get a reputation as a slut and she'd be out of contention. At least Bethany thought she had it worked out; it was hard to be sure. Brian Robertson was both cool and smart. He kept pretty quiet about being smart, but he didn't deny it either. Bethany was really hoping Brian would take an interest in her. Could he find a way to destroy Anne and get Brian to notice her more at the same time? "Hey, Anne," said Bethany when she found her at lunch one day. "How's the chemistry going?" "Terrible! I just can't seem to get it, no matter how hard I try. My parents are going to be so mad!" "It is hard, I know. But I had an idea. You know Cyrus, my lab partner?" "Yeah." "He's incredibly smart, and he's got this thing where a smart boy can help a girl learn things." "Really, how?" "What he says is that if a boy and girl have sex, then his know-how is in his sperm, and she can kind of learn it just from getting it inside her." "What?" "Yeah, that's what he said. The girl has to drink some potion first, I think he said." "Well, if Cyrus says it, I bet he knows what he's talking about!" Man, was Anne naive. "Well, anyway, I had this idea. Brian's really smart, you know? And if I could get him to agree to do it to you, would you be willing, so you can learn chemistry better?" "Um, hmmm," said Anne, blushing. "My parents would kill me if they found out." "I guess, but they don't have to, right?" "You think I could do something like that and keep it a secret?" "Why not?" "Huh." She paused. "You think he'd do it?" "Maybe, would you like me to ask him?" "I don't know..." "No obligation; I'd just be asking." "Well, OK, I guess..." --------------------------------------------------------- "Hey, Brian." "Hey, Bethany, what's up?" "You know Anne, right?" "Sure." "Do you think she's hot?" "Oh, I don't know -- physically I'd say she's pretty cute." "How'd you like to, you know, do it to her." "Like date her? She's not exactly with it," he said, pointing to his head. "Yeah, but this wouldn't be that. It would be just sex. See, Cyrus has this crackpot idea that guys' cum has their knowledge in it, so if they give it to a girl, she can learn what he knows." It was exciting to talk about sex with Brian. "Right, so how come dumb blonds don't get smart in a hurry?" He was so clever! "Oh, he said the girl has to take some potion that he cooked up." "Cyrus is really wacky." "Of course it's just a wacky idea, but that's not what matters. What matters is that Anne's willing to believe him. So you'd just meet, do it to her, and that would be the end of it. All very hush-hush, too." Brian smiled. "Well, when you put it like that..." Good, Bethany thought. And now he thinks of me and sex together. --------------------------------------------------------- "Hey, Anne, remember what we were talking about? Brian says it's a go." "Oh, that's nice, but I've changed my mind." "What?" "I've changed my mind. I can't give myself away like that." "But you told me you'd do it!" "I hardly made a promise!" Anne smiled. Bethany sighed. What Anne said was reasonable enough -- getting her to consider it in the first place was the more amazing part. Her plan had backfired. What would she tell Brian? Maybe she'd have to offer herself as a substitute? She felt a brief surge of blood to her loins at the thought. But of course she would then ruin herself just as she had hoped to ruin Anne... But something was amiss. Anne didn't act like a girl who'd decided not to try a fool stunt; she didn't have the aura of a girl who had closed the entire subject and decided to save herself for marriage. She acted sneaky, like she knew a secret. Bethany would have to think about it more. --------------------------------------------------------- Cyrus let Anne in and ushered her quickly up to his bedroom. His parents and sister weren't due home any time soon, but he didn't want to take any chances. Anne spoke first, earnestly. "Now, you're sure you're never going to tell anyone?" "Yeah, I promise." "Like, my parents would kill me if they found out." "Right, I won't tell." "And everyone at school would call me a slut." "But you're not a slut! This is for science!" "That's not the point," Anne said with a sigh. "But I'm ready. You're going to teach me chemistry." "Um, first you drink this," he said, handing her the small vial. "OK," she said. She looked at the clear liquid, took a careful sip, then downed it. "No taste at all." "No, it shouldn't, so that part's good." Now came the hard part. "So, um... Have you ever done it before?" "No, you?" "No. So I guess we're in the same boat." He gave a nervous laugh. "So I guess we have to take off our clothes down below." She sat on the side of the bed and took off her shoes. Then she reached up under her dress and stepped out of her panties, then lay back on the bed, but left her dress still smoothed down. She seemed very calm. Cyrus stood there transfixed. Suddenly he realized Anne was noticing his inaction. He knew what he had to do, but it was all happening so fast. He sat and removed his own shoes, keeping his socks on as Anne had. Then he got up and pulled down his jeans and briefs, and blushed to realize Anne could now see his cock. It was pretty full of blood but not exactly hard. He hoped it looked OK, but reminded himself that Anne probably didn't have anything to compare it to. Anne stole quick glances at his cock, but didn't show any obvious reaction. "I read about it in the library," Anne said. "They said to avoid pain from a hymen tearing I could stretch it first, so I did, a couple days ago, and it's not sore any more. They said if I could get four fingers in then a penis should fit too. And now I'm supposed to rub myself so I get wet enough." She dutifully hitched her dress up and began rubbing her vulva. It was very erotic. He was going to get to stick his penis in there? It got very hard as he contemplated the prospect. "And I bought some condoms, too," she said. Yeah, condoms, thought Cyrus -- then remembered. "We can't use a condom," he said. "It will never work unless the semen touches against the cervix. That's what a condom prevents." "Oh," said Anne. "So how do I make sure I don't get pregnant?" "Oh. Well, you could be on the pill or get an IUD," he said, "but I guess that's no help now." "Oh... My parents would kill me if I got pregnant. But they'll kill me if I don't bring my chemistry grade up too. Arrgggh!" "Hmmmm. There's only certain parts of the month you can get pregnant, too." "Oh, yeah. One reason I waited a few days after you said you'd do it was so my period would be all over. It finally is." "OK, then you can't get pregnant. Not unless you have really irregular cycles." Cyrus had read a lot of books about sex too. That's what happened when his horniness piggybacked on his natural geekiness. And that's where he'd gotten the idea to look into prostate fluid, and one thing led to another. "No, I'm regular." "Willing to risk it?" "Yeah." Anne had been gently rubbing her vulva as they spoke. "I think I'm ready now. It's wet," she said, demonstrating by parting her labia minora, "and it feels pretty good too," she added with a faint blush. "So... teach me some chemistry!" she said with a smile. As in a dream, Cyrus approached and knelt between the girl's legs. She guided his cock to her vaginal opening. As he pushed, the wet warmth enveloping him felt fantastic. "Oooo," said Anne. "That's weird!" "Is it OK?" asked Cyrus anxiously. "Yeah, it's OK -- good even - just weird too." He was in a girl for the first time -- a beautiful girl who was smiling up at him, and his instinct was to ejaculate immediately -- that's what his untutored body wanted to do. But he remembered the science part. The experiment would work best if he deposited the semen right on her cervix. Diving in and out felt good, too, nudging deeper each time. 'You're in the right place. Give her the sperm!' yelled the vaguely articulate part of his inner nature. He held off a little, then wondered if he should be trying to see to her pleasure too. He wasn't sure he knew what to do, not really. And she had signed up to learn chemistry, not enjoy sex. It was all kind of academic, though. It felt fantastic, fucking (oooo, what a naughty word!) a girl for the first time, and his body would not be denied. Just be sure it spurts onto her cervix, he thought. But his body had no problem with that, and he gasped as he felt the pulses begin when he had jammed in as deep as he could, his vision reeling with ecstasy. When the last of his semen had oozed out of his penis, he withdrew and flopped down beside Anne, a silly grin on his face. He'd just done it to a girl! "Wow!" said Anne. Had she really liked it that much? That was fantastic! "Whoa." She was holding her head. "Does your head hurt?" he asked anxiously. "No... You have a dirty mind!" "But... I mean, when two people do it, that's kind of what dirty's all about, right?" Had he made too much noise? Should he have been more discreet in showing how fantastic it felt? "No, not this -- the rest of the time! All the girl thighs and crotches and boobs! Especially Bethany's..." "What?" he asked. He'd momentarily forgotten about the science part. When he remembered, he had a sneaky suspicion he knew what had happened. "You're like the perfect student, but you're thinking about girls' bodies all the time!" "Oh, well, I don't know." Cyrus blushed. Anne giggled. "It's kind of cute, actually. And I see my own butt go whizzing by now and then; that's nice." Cyrus was burning with embarrassment. But he reminded himself that he should be feeling elated -- it looked like the memory transfer had worked! It just hadn't worked quite like he hoped. He reflected that when he was famous, they'd have to clean up the science textbooks, instead of revealing that the first seminal memory transfer had been of girls' boobs and asses and crotches. "So, what about chemistry?" "Hmmm, let me look past the boobs and see what's there," she said, teasing. "Systems of linear equations. Matrices. Proust. Who's Proust? ... Oh, a French writer." "Nothing about electron shells?" "Um, nope." Then Cyrus thought about it. The prostate proteins he had just ejaculated against Anne's cervix -- he shivered with pleasure to think about it -- were probably made in the last couple days. He had jerked off two days before, so those proteins were probably gone. And what had he been doing the past couple days? Studying Linear Algebra and reading Proust! Along with sizing up boobs and asses and crotches, but he was always doing *that*. But not studying much chemistry. It all made sense! Then he had another thought. Did he have any dark secrets? What else might he have been thinking about in the past couple days? He'd have to stop picking his nose. Maybe his last masturbation was hidden because he had ejaculated. The truth was, he didn't have much in the way of truly embarrassing secrets. He explained the situation to Anne. "So then can you study chemistry for a couple days, then do it again?" His heart leapt. She wanted to do it again! And knowing how fantastic the real thing was, he knew he'd forever after think of masturbation as a poor substitute. "Sure, sounds good." --------------------------------------------------------- They had ascended to Cyrus's bedroom once more for their fourth tutoring session. Anne had wasted no time, and was on the pill before their second session; the sexual revolution hadn't really made it to their high school yet, but there were clinics. Cyrus had calmed down a little during sex. Now he knew the fantastic feeling was awaiting him, but he could take a little time to enjoy how wonderful it felt first. He remembered that as he prepared to deliver his first three lessons, Anne had been smiling up at him, but he wasn't sure just what she was feeling. She had agreed to this so she could learn chemistry, not so she could enjoy herself. She had in the past used her fingers to make sure she was ready to learn, but this time was different. "Do you wanna kiss me?" she asked shyly. Goodness! That was not part of the lesson plan! They ignored each other in school, as usual, but he felt his cock come alive whenever he glanced at her. Seeing her in his bedroom as she exposed her privates for the lesson was also terribly exciting. And Anne had a pretty face. Lots of girls had alluring bodies, but Anne was beautiful. "OK!" he stammered, and lay beside her on his left side. She turned to face him, and they quickly discovered how to kiss, then how to kiss passionately. After several minutes, Anne gently took his right hand and gently placed it on her left breast -- or rather on the part of her dress that covered it. Cyrus leaned back and smiled. If she wanted to be his girlfriend, he was all in favor! "Let's do it right," she whispered. "The lesson will wait a little while, right?" She sat up to take her shirt off. "Yeah," said Cyrus, grinning. As they stripped he feasted his eyes on the entirety of her lovely body, especially the upper part that he had never seen naked before. He licked and sucked her nipples, then explored her vulva with his own hand, trying to mimic the motion he had seen her use. After half an hour, she said, "OK, I think I'm ready to learn. Ready to teach me?" "You bet!" said Cyrus, and knelt between her spread legs once more. This time she gasped with pleasure as he worked his penis inside of her, and clutched his back as he began his instruction. In and out he went, over and over, the fantastic feeling building. This time he would wait for her. How long would it take? It felt like forever, but her gasps and moans kept getting more and more urgent. Finally she erupted with a cry, and based on his reading Cyrus decided that she must have had an orgasm, especially as she then started relaxing. "Now teach me," she gasped between breaths. "I'm so ready to learn -- chemistry." And Cyrus was delighted to see her beautiful face begging him to deliver his lesson -- though part of him also knew she was a girl who wanted her partner to finish taking his satisfaction in her body, chemistry or no chemistry. So it felt better than ever when he did finally deliver his message to her depths, smearing it all over her cervix as the natural denouement to their first real lovemaking. --------------------------------------------------------- "Congratulations, Anne," said Mrs. Rowley, the chemistry teacher. "You got an A on this latest exam. You'd never gotten above a C+ before." Anne glowed with pride. This was the final proof; it had really worked! She had known she was doing better at the problem sets. She really did understand it, and to her amazement actually found it interesting at times. Cyrus was such a sweetheart too. Orgasms during sex a few times a week did wonders for a girl's mood. And she wasn't quite sure how it had happened, but she was in love with him. He acted like he was in love with her too, and she wondered how long they would have to keep meeting in secret. "Can you tell me what happened? What changed?" What should she say? Part of her wanted to say that she had gotten Cyrus to teach her and he was a wonderful tutor, but something held her back. "I don't know," she said, looking down. "I guess something just clicked." "If you don't mind, how'd you like to do a couple problems right now?" Suddenly Anne realized that this conversation wasn't really about congratulating her. It was to see if she'd been cheating. "Oh. OK, sure." She knew that was the only acceptable answer . Anne was so nervous she was afraid she'd forget everything, but she got the first two. The third stumped her, though. "It's OK," said Mrs. Rowley with a smile. "That's a really hard problem, and you did great with the other two. Congratulations! And if you ever figure out what changed, the field of Education is eager to know so we can share your secret to help out other students." Anne smiled. She was pretty sure no one wanted to know about this particular teaching technique. Years later she reflected on how very wrong she had been. --------------------------------------------------------- Bethany heard the teacher congratulate Anne, and soon learned about her "A". Bethany collared Cyrus the first chance she got. "You used it with Anne, didn't you?" she said accusingly. "That's a rather personal question," stammered Cyrus, and Bethany knew at once that they'd had sex. She still doubted that he had transferred his knowledge by way of sperm. He had probably tutored her very patiently. News of Anne's dramatic improvement spread. She and Cyrus came out as a couple, and they explained simply that he had been tutoring her. Her parents were not wild about her spending so much time at Cyrus's house, but they couldn't argue with the improvement in her grades. Clearly he was a good influence on her. Her other grades went up too, all except Spanish. Cyrus didn't know any Spanish. The clueless geek and the clueless airhead had been nothing in the social standings of the school. But as they emerged as a couple, their stock soared. They were both honest, straightforward and kind to others -- if as clueless as ever. Cyrus wasn't a bad-looking guy, and with the confidence of a relationship, they both looked better. Anne didn't become a genius; what she absorbed from Cyrus's semen still had to work within the limits of her native endowment, which was average. But she was no airhead any more. She picked up a great deal of general knowledge that happened to be hanging around Cyrus's mind as his prostate gland busily churned to encode it into his seminal fluid. ============================================================ Chapter 2 "Oh, hi, Bethany," said Brian. She was really nervous. But she had a plan. "Remember how I was telling you about Cyrus's invention? The potion?" "Yeah." "Well, you also heard about Anne's A in chemistry?" "No, I hadn't. I guess she doesn't get A's much?" "No, never even had a B before." "Huh." "It's got to be Cyrus." "Oh, I've seen then talking sometimes. Is he tutoring her?" "They've been going out for a few weeks now." "Huh. Really? Cyrus?" Boys could be so ignorant, even if they were hot. All the girls knew about Cyrus and Anne! "Yeah, and I think he used that potion thing on her." "Really?" "Yeah, I think that's it." "Huh." "I think she's a slut, letting him do her like that just to learn stuff." "Oh, yeah, I guess. Maybe she likes it, though." "I guess -- but Cyrus?" Brian shrugged, then grinned. "Imagine that. Doing it to a girl to teach her. You mentioned that before, I guess, didn't you. But what if it really worked? I should study up and see if I can get any tutoring jobs. Ha!" It was several days later when she found him again, right after the American History test had been returned. "How'd you do?" she asked. She already knew through the grapevine. "Oh, well, I did pretty well, I guess." "How well?" "An A. But it's no big deal." "No big deal! I got a B minus!" She hadn't really meant to get that bad of a grade, but her plan distracted her. "Huh. What happened? You study pretty much, right? And you're smart." "I can't concentrate so well lately; my mind's always wandering." Brian said suddenly, "Well, I guess I could 'tutor' you like Cyrus did, eh? How'd you like that?" He laughed. "Brian! You're bad!" said Bethany, but she hesitated. "Even if you didn't learn anything, it would be fun." "Brian!" she said, but there was a whimper mixed with the indignation. He suddenly looked up at her before looking away, and she knew he was getting the message. --------------------------------------------------------- Brian had asked her out and she'd said yes, of course. Before the date, she got Cyrus to give her a little vial of his magic potion. A little seductive flirting was all it took. Yeah, the potion probably didn't work, but what the heck. "So, you wanna come upstairs?" he said nonchalantly as they leaned against the counter in his kitchen, drinking Cokes. "Um, well, OK, I guess," she said. "My bedroom!" he said, opening the door to let her in. It wasn't so messy. She'd bet it wasn't always like that; he'd cleaned it up planning to get her upstairs. He gently took her shoulders and brought her in to him for a kiss. Bethany shuddered. Whoa! He was so hot, and finally kissing her. Before long his one hand had migrated down to her butt, the other sliding in front to grope her right breast. She felt her arousal build. His touch was more like pawing than caressing, but it was still exciting. After a few minutes of making out while standing, he said softly, "You wanna lie on the bed? Get more comfortable?" Bethany nodded. They were half-undressed, his right hand kneading her boobs as they kissed. He moved it down between her legs and brought it up to her crotch. A big part of her just wanted him to fuck her right then. But another part hesitated, remembering this was dangerous. She could just end up being a conquest for him. But the way he looked at her -- surely a boy couldn't look at a girl that way if he didn't want to be her boyfriend, could he? He tugged on her panties, and she raised her hips. He somehow managed to roll them down her legs, and then she saw his cock. She'd never seen a grown-up cock all ready to go before. It was big and scary, but she knew it belonged inside her. On the other hand, there was her reputation... "Oh, Bethany," he panted breathlessly. "You're so beautiful! It's amazing!" and he joined their faces for another passionate kiss. He moved to mount her, that cock zooming in between her legs. "Wait!" she said. Did she want it? She knew he loved her -- he must! He was so strong, so masculine. What else was she supposed to think about? "You have a condom?" She'd swallowed Cyrus's potion for good luck, but hadn't thought through the semen-against-cervix part. "Oh," he said. "Um, no." "But we ought to." "Tell you what, let's just do it a while, and I won't come in you, OK?" "Um, well, OK, I guess." "Oh, wow, Bethany," he said as his cock tip pressed against her moist pussy. "Unnnnnhhh!" he said as she felt a huge pressure and a stab of pain. She was too shocked to speak, however. Her tissues gave way, and amid the pain she felt that huge thing invading her, occupying her more and more. But it didn't feel good. "Oh, baby, you're so hot!" Brian said, having hit bottom in the girl and shifting to fast, deep strokes as he shoved his meat in and out. "Oh, shit, babe," he said. "It feels fantastic!" That kind of talk made Bethany mad, but she didn't say anything. She was hurting bad down in her pussy, laid out helplessly below this crazed sex maniac. She wasn't a virgin any more. "Oh, yeah," he said. "Didn't you want to learn American History? Let me fuck some American History into you!" and began an even more violent reaming of her sore innards. She thought of reminding him he had to pull out, but that thought of Cyrus's invention clouded her mind long enough that she only said, "Brian... Brian." "Isn't it great, baby? Oh, shit. You're fantastic!" "Brian... You're gonna pull out, right?" "Oh, shit, Bethany! I will... just a little more... it feels so good!" And with a few more frantic thrusts he said, "Oops, too late!" just as his body shuddered and he gave a huge groan. He must have come inside her. A second later she felt him pull out, her sore pussy suddenly empty. And then the memories began. Shit, Cyrus's potion worked! There was a flood of guy memories -- friends, football practice, jokes, classes, some American History even. And then -- she started feeling sick to her stomach. Brian had just been out with Justine the night before. Justine was one of the most popular girls, though in a different set from the one she hung around with. He really wanted Justine for his girlfriend and she seemed to like the idea, though they were both keeping very quiet about it. They made out a lot. He thought they'd finally go all the way, but she refused again. Frustrated that he still hadn't gotten into a pussy, he'd come home and pulled a gross porn magazine out from under his bed. The girl was taking two cocks at once, and one of the guys was yanking on her tits, and then Brian had jerked off, mouthing obscenities. Then she found Brian's memories of her, and her fear turned to humiliation and shame. He didn't like her! He thought she was loud and shallow and not very nice, and he just wanted to get into her pants! Which he had just done. She started crying. "Oh, Bethany, you OK? They say it hurts the first time, right?" What was she going to do? He'd tell the guys he'd nailed her, fucked her, screwed her, right up in his bedroom. And he'd be right, because that was exactly what he'd done. She was ruined. He'd left his sperm oozing in her pussy no less. She got up and began dressing without a word. "So soon, honey?" said Brian. "I'd be ready for another go pretty soon." Man, was she furious! But then she paused when she found that other memory. He was gay! Or at least bi! Because there he was with Dave, who everyone knew was gay, and he was humping his dick up Dave's ass! "Faggot," she said. "What?" he bolted upright. "Faggot. Dave's butt, huh?" "Yeah, right! Very funny!" "No, I got the memory, it's right there. You and Dave, over and over again. His bedroom. Sunday evenings when his parents are away." "What? How did you know? Oh, Christ, you don't mean that potion thing worked?" "Yeah, I see Justine too. You asshole!" "Hey, you're really nice! I like you both." "Bullshit. I have more memories than that. Loud and shallow, huh?" "Oh, shit." Brian slumped over, head in his hands. Bethany's brain tried to find a way out of her misery. Then she formed a plan. "Look, I'll tell you what, butthead," she said. "You will never, ever, say a single word about this to anyone." "About what?" "About what? This little fuckity-fuck-fuck you just did to me." "Oh, that. Um, well, you mean you won't tell about Dave?" "Yeah, that's the deal. I won't tell about Dave, and you never breathe a word about this. Because if anyone finds out -- if I hear it from one soul, then the story of Brian the faggot is going to be everywhere, right?" "OK, OK, it's a deal," he said, pulling his underpants on over his slimy dick. Her panties were going to be slimy too, she realized. She'd take a long shower as soon as she got home. "And, you know, I'm really sorry about this. It's just you're so hot, it's hard for a guy not to try--" "Brian?" "What?" "Fuck you." "Oh, yeah..." His shoulders slumped. "It was pretty bad of me. But you won't tell anyone about Dave?" "If you don't breathe a word about this." "OK, it's a deal." He reached out to shake hands. She looked at his hand, then looked at him with a stony face. "Fuck you." --------------------------------------------------------- The thing was, she actually learned a fair amount of American History. But every time something popped into her head that she knew had come from Brian, she got furious all over. Her grade on the next test was a D. But then she recovered. Yeah, she'd lost her virginity to a creep who just wanted to fuck her, and it had hurt like hell. But now it was over. And it was really very educational to have a couple days' worth of memories from a guy's head. Ones like fucking Dave's ass were only shadows of memories, ones Brian remembered during the past couple days instead of things that happened then. But the whole mix made for a really enlightening, broadening experience. Knowing stuff was cool. Knowing people's secrets was very ... interesting as well. Where could she get more? It was easy to get more of the magic potion from Cyrus. Despite having a steady girlfriend, the guy was easily flattered. Just because he had one girlfriend didn't meant he didn't still have the hots for others. A boob pressed against his arm, a thigh pressed against his as they sat side by side at the lab bench -- that's all it took. Whose fount of wisdom should she try to tap next? Mr. Fred Sacks was an excellent candidate. He'd been her math teacher the year before. It was plain that he noticed all the girls in the class; you'd see him glancing at Justine's boobs, or Caitlin's ass, or the hem of Bethany's very own skirt. He was also cute and a nice guy. She'd occasionally thought she could have had a crush on him if she weren't too sophisticated for something like that. Many of the obstacles to a successful seduction were absent. He was single. She wasn't his student, so she wasn't trying to improve her grade. And she was 16 and not a virgin. She knew it would still be bad news for him if a dalliance with a student became public, though she didn't really know how much. And that was his problem, not hers. "Hi, Mr. Sacks," she said, catching him in his office at the end of the day. "Bethany!" he said, standing. "This is a surprise. How are you? Which math section are you in this year?" "Um, Mrs. Pereira's." "Uh, OK. How's it going?" "OK, I guess." "So what can I do for you?" Bethany casually shut the door, leaving the two of them alone in his small office. "I... I just wanted to thank you so much for being my teacher last year." "Oh, that's kind of you." "Can I give you a hug?" "Oh, um..." Bethany didn't wait for an answer, but threw her arms around him and squeezed. She made sure her pelvis pressed against his upper thigh. In the late 1960s, the circle of people you hugged was getting larger, though it usually didn't include teachers and high school students quite yet. "Um..." "Can I do anything for you to pay you back for being such a nice teacher? I saw you looking at me sometimes." "Bethany, this isn't really proper, you know." "What, don’t you think I'm attractive any more?" Her eyes teared up and she looked down. "No, it's not that at all!" he said. She looked up shyly and smiled. She pressed forward with her stomach against his crotch and wiggled. The bulge was apparent. "Can I see it?" "Bethany, Bethany..." said the teacher. "Why are you doing this?" "I just want to thank you. And, well, a girl's got urges and gets curious too, you know. You want to touch me?" she asked, placing his hand on her breast. "Bethany..." he sighed, removing his hand. "At least let me play with your -- your -- penis," she pleaded. With a sigh, he undid his belt and unzipped his fly. Bethany tugged pants and underpants down and saw his hard cock. "This is what you'd stick in me if we were going to do it?" she asked lustily. "Oooooo...." "We can't 'do it'," he said. "Much as I'd find it very appealing." "At least let me make you feel good, OK?" She spat on her hands and grasped his cock with both of them and tried to make them like a vagina, making a slick tunnel for him. "Oh, Bethany," he moaned. A minute went by. "We shouldn't... Oh... That's so nice... Careful, watch out! Wait!" But Bethany kept her hands in place, rubbing harder and harder as she felt his organ swell and stiffen. "Oooooohhhhh!" he moaned, and just like magic stuff was spurting out the tip of his dick into her left palm. When she had three spurts, she removed her hands and said, "Oh, no! I've got to go! Sorry, I'll be back in a sec..." and opened the door. "Bethany!" called Mr. Sacks, turning his back to shield his exposed cock from any passersby. She nearly ran to the girls' room, darted into a stall, dropped her panties and began fingering Mr. Sacks's goopy stuff up into her pussy, trying to get it in deep, just able to touch her cervix with her middle finger. She was getting some memories, but she concentrated on washing her hands and returning quickly to a worried-looking Mr. Sacks, who was on his way out, just locking his office door. "I'm sorry," she said. "I just had to go really bad then, for some reason. You know, number two." "Diarrhea?" he asked, walking briskly down the corridor with his briefcase in hand. "Yeah," she said, matching strides. "Bethany, we shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have let you." "It's OK, Mr. Sacks, I'm glad." "You won't tell anyone, right? I'd get in trouble." "But you didn't do anything." "Doesn't matter. I didn't stop you." "Well sure, I'm not going to tell anyone." "OK," he said, and hurried off to his car. --------------------------------------------------------- At her leisure, Bethany reviewed what she'd learned. The memories she'd received were faint, nothing like the flood she got from Brian, but there was enough there to work with. Mr. Sacks loved math, and was discouraged by how little the kids cared. But he was trying to mentor William, one of the math nerds. The gap between what Mr. Sacks knew and what William knew was huge, but finding a student he could really turn on to math was what would make Mr. Sacks feel fulfilled. Could she get him to fuck her if he started thinking of her that way? She found him a couple days later and he was very wary. She said she didn't know what came over her, she'd be good, and she wasn't there for anything like before. It's just that she'd been intrigued by some of the stuff they'd covered the year before, and asked if she could borrow a copy of the textbook they'd used. He was happy to oblige, and perhaps happy that she gave no sign of using his indiscreet moment against him. Bethany hadn't been intrigued by any of the math she'd learned that past year, but now as she read the book, she did find some of it more interesting. With motivation, things made sense that never had before. Where she'd done her best to learn a rule so she could answer problems, this time she could get a glimmer of the sense behind it, how it fit in with the other concepts. She picked one small section of what they'd covered -- Pythagorean triplets -- and studied it carefully. When she had some reasonably intelligent questions to ask, she found Mr. Sacks again, and suddenly his attitude towards her was very different. She'd awakened his hunger for another student to mentor -- though she thought she could see desire in his eyes as well. So it happened that at a study session at his house the following Saturday, she managed to get Mr. Sacks to lie on the bed with her. He kissed her sweetly, and his hands were all over her. The contrast with Brian was like night and day. His hand slid slowly between her thighs, and she spread her legs with a smile, delighted that he wanted to pay attention to her down there. His fingers slid inside her panties, and whatever he did with them was like nothing she'd discovered herself in her own explorations. Her ministrations to his penis were far less artful, she knew. He slumped back. "We shouldn't be doing this." "I want us to do it. I want you inside me. I want to feel it inside." "Bethany... "I already did it once with a boy and it felt awful. I want to find out what it's like with a man who knows what he's doing -- with you!" He hesitated just a moment. "OK," he said, lust in his eyes. He mounted her, kissed his cock against her pussy lips and plunged inside. She discovered what countless girls had discovered before: With the right partner, sex felt great. The closeness, the connection, the urgency of her partner, and the waves of pleasure. He said in an urgent, apologetic whisper that he'd make sure she finished next time, but he couldn't hold back, and his anguished moan told her he was giving her just what she wanted: gobs of sticky, teacherly cum straight into her pussy, dabbing against her cervix. Seconds later, the memories started arriving, first a trickle and then a flood. She made a point of acting nonchalant, having decided beforehand to let on nothing to him, no matter how shocking his secrets might be. The math teacher's breathing slowed and he kissed her cheeks and hair gently, his cock slowly shrinking inside her. As the cock shrank, the thoughts and memories grew and grew. Ever since the hand job, he'd jerked off thinking of her twice a day. He'd also looked at his porn magazines, but it was tame, simple stuff -- mostly just pretty girls in sexy positions. He listened to classical music a lot. He read widely: novels, science, politics, poetry. But his main love was math. And with the flood of memories came a certain degree of understanding. All she had to do was ask him to explain what he'd been thinking about lately. He reluctantly began to describe some ways of thinking about the Four Color Problem, humoring her. But he was astounded to find that she really did understand some of the considerations. He said she must really have been not applying herself to earn only a B-minus in his course the previous year. In a couple weeks he confided that he was in love with her, which matched the thoughts she was getting from his semen. That made her feel uneasy at first, because she had set out to use him. But she found the relationship really very nice too. Soon she was having an orgasm every time they made love -- sometimes 2 or 3 if she wanted. He could hold off forever. And he was so knowledgeable and kind. From his private thoughts she thought she could tell that he was a good man to the core, with no dark secrets. In comparison to Mr. Sacks, all the boys in her school seemed hopelessly immature and awkward. Climbing the social ladder didn't seem so important any more, and she had the feeling she must be falling in love with him too. And then she knew she already was. "Fred," she said one day as they lay entwined in afterglow. "Mmmm?" "What was it like with Tina?" After a moment, he looked up at her. "I've never told you about Tina." Uh-oh. Was that just from his memories? "Sure you did, don't you remember?" "No. Believe me, I'd remember if I'd decided to talk about Tina." "But I'm sure you must have..." He pulled away and looked at her. "Have you been researching my past? Hunting down old friends?" "No!" "How else could you know... There are old diaries in some of those boxes in the attic. You haven't been going through my things, have you?" "No, I swear!" He was very upset, and could not be distracted by suggestions that he must have forgotten what he said during foreplay, or by sweet smiles and tender caresses. "You've been doing something to invade my privacy, and I want you to be honest and tell me what it is. I might forgive you, but you have to tell me everything. No secrets about something like this!" Bethany cried and he waited, patting her back. She couldn't keep crying forever, and there he was: patient but unrelenting. He would not be deterred. Despite her anguish, she respected this calm, fair integrity on his part. No secrets. Oh, shit. She started telling the long story of Cyrus and his potion. He smiled at parts, sighed at others -- as when she described her unhappy encounter with Brian. He nodded thoughtfully when she told how she'd gotten a flood of his memories and how they stung her to the core. She was becoming hopeful that he might be open-minded about the incredible truth behind Cyrus's potion. "So, that's the story," she said when she reached the present. "I've been getting memories from you, too -- lots of memories." "Very interesting," he said. "So that's how I know about Tina." "Hmmmmm." "You don't believe me?" "I believe you're sincere. I -- I want to believe you." He didn't sound completely sure, though, and looked away as he said it. "I have so many memories from you," she said. "So many..." "Ones you can prove didn't come from going through my things? Give me some examples." "Um, your high school friend Bob. The time you got drunk with Richard. When you lost your virginity with Stella." He frowned and sighed when she said that. Uh-oh. Avoid embarrassing memories. "All described in my old diaries in the attic." "I've never been to the attic, I swear." He was silent a while. "I don't know, Bethany, I've trusted you; you've meant so much to me..." Tears welled up in his eyes. "But the memories thing is true! I swear it!" "Then give me a memory you couldn't have gotten any other way." "Um... Zoe's mother complained about the grade she'd received." "Huh. But you could have gotten that from reading my notes -- you haven't been looking in my briefcase, have you?" "No! I swear! She was wearing a yellow dress." He looked unconvinced. "How would I know Zoe's mom was wearing a yellow dress?" "Maybe you saw her that day too?" Bethany's fear and frustration turned to anger. "Fred, no! I am not a liar! That tooth on the upper left side of your jaw is hurting again. You're both unhappy but also kind of happy that the wet spots from all our sex don't come out from the sheets in the wash. You wish I wouldn't say 'like' so much and you think my pussy flaps are really big." Fred looked stunned, then anguished at that revelation. "It's OK! I don't mind. Just don't call me a liar, OK?" "I'm... I'm sorry, Bethany. Shit! What's happening? It doesn't make sense." "Cyrus is a smart boy, and he found a drug so girls can decode memories from sperm. That's what happened!" "I guess it's not impossible... Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. But this evidence is extraordinary... What other embarrassing things do you know about me? Oh, shit!" "Fred, you're a good man. I don't care if you pick your nose -- I do too! I don't mind you have rape fantasies. I do too!" That was a bit of an exaggeration. "This is all so much to take in, Bethany. I think I need to be alone for a while." "But you're not going to break up with me, are you? Please?" "I suppose you could blackmail me on any number of things," he said. "I wouldn't *do* that!" she said. "I'm not that kind of person." He must be a good influence, she reflected. A few months before, she would have happily done that. She had actually blackmailed Brian, but there were extenuating circumstances. He smiled. "I don't want to break up with you. I promise we'll meet again, at least to talk more, OK?" She had no choice but to believe him, and he was true to his word. --------------------------------------------------------- "I've been doing research, Bethany. It's possible. It really is. I think I know what sort of trick Cyrus must have pulled. If I'm right, it's so bizarre -- just the sort of thing a teen would think of when no scientist would. It works like this --" She interrupted him. "It would be a lot easier if you'd just tell it all to me in bed." "Why in bed?" "Not exactly tell me; show me, give me a present. You know..." "Oh -- " Then he got her meaning, and smiled. "I'd like it, too. You know, after that big fight." "OK, Bethany, OK." Fred was reserved during their lovemaking, and Bethany couldn't relax either. "I don't think I can finish today... Could you just ... teach me? Deliver the lesson?" She smiled weakly. "OK," he said. "I just do it like this?" He pressed in deep. "Or even better, if you raise your legs, I can get in even deeper." "OK," she said, adopting the position he wanted. "But it's worked just fine before." She felt his cock tip nudging the end of her vagina as never before. It was a funny sensation. "Then," he said, rowing in and out with increasing concentration, all I have to do is, is, is... THIS!" he said. Bethany bit her lip and winced. He was pressing really hard up into her and it hurt. He held himself there, perfectly still, and she could faintly feel his cock twitching. The memories came with just a touch more vividness than before. As she was absorbing them, he spoke. "Hey, you're crying! What's wrong?" "Just too deep," she said. "It hurt." "Oh, heavens, Bethany, I'm so sorry..." And his profuse apologies reassured her that he still cared for her a lot. One of the memories annoyed her, but she went along with it. With a big sigh, she said, "Two hundred forty seven point four four." "Yes!" he said, "It's real!" He had concentrated for some time that morning on that particular number and on his desire that she say it as soon as she knew it. And she knew from his thoughts that since she could recite it correctly, it established at a minimum of the .00001 confidence level that this was not due to chance alone. "But I don't want to be a science experiment." "Oh, oh... I didn't mean it that way. Oh, dear. And I didn't believe you, and called you a liar. I'm so, so sorry! Can you forgive me?" "Shhhh. Just hold me." And he did, the wonderful man. --------------------------------------------------------- Bethany quickly became an excellent student overall. Her popular friends sensed other changes. She had no more petty secrets to share, no more juicy speculations about who liked who and how far any couple had gone. She didn't react with glee when they shared such things with her. But she didn't push them away, like a girl might who was maneuvering to improve her social position. She was just kinder. Sensing she had turned into something else -- apparently a goody two-shoes and an earnest student -- they gradually left her alone. She didn't seek out new friends. She had Mr. Sacks. Mr. Sacks talked with Bethany over and over again about Cyrus's invention and what it could mean. He felt the boy really ought to patent it. It was impossible for Bethany and Mr. Sacks to let anyone know of the intimate nature of their relationship. So it was up to Bethany to relay Mr. Sacks' opinions. Cyrus couldn't miss the changes in Bethany too. He was delighted that she seemed to care about chemistry and was really getting it. When Bethany relayed Mr. Sacks's ideas, at first Cyrus was resistant, saying it had just been lots of fun and he was happy to share his knowledge with the world. But before long he finally saw the merit in applying for a patent now, and deciding when he was older whether to just give it away. Bethany offered to pay the up-front costs of the patent investigation, though it was really Mr. Sacks's money. So before long Cyrus found himself sitting in a plush 41st-floor conference room, talking to some astute patent lawyers in immaculate suits. ============================================================ Chapter 3 Bethany didn't see her cousin Julia Johnson all that often, but she idolized her. The fact she was six years older set the stage, but Julia was also a sort of golden girl. She was in anyone's eyes beautiful, and she was also friendly, funny, and kind to her little cousin. When the families got together at Bethany's for Christmas (they lived in Scarsdale), Julia at the dinner table told of the recent developments in her life. She was in her second year of a Ph.D. program at M.I.T. in physics. In recent years Bethany had learned that Julia was very smart, something she hadn't perceived so well before due to the age difference. At Yale her interests had taken a scientific bent, and she had set her sights on theoretical physics. Yet as smart people advance in their education, the winnowing process finds them with smarter and smarter peers. At M.I.T. she was doing OK in her courses, but to take the next step she needed some creative insights, and they had been slow in coming. She was starting to rethink her career options. For her part, Julia was as surprised as everyone else to hear of the newly intellectual Bethany. As Bethany lay in bed that night, she thought of her distress at not having original ideas. A silly idea came to her. What if she gave Julia some of Cyrus's magic potion? Bethany suggested the next day that they head off to the movies, just the two of them. Julia was enthusiastic, and in the car they each confided that they were eager for a break from their families. "Julia, I want to tell you about something, but I'm afraid you'll laugh at me." "Why would I laugh at you?" "You'll think I'm into kooky pseudo-science. No better than horoscopes or telepathy." "Oh?" "But it's not an accident that I'm suddenly a good student. You've got to admit that's a real surprise, right? Given who I was before?" "I'm not sure; I always thought you had it in you," the older girl said, but without much conviction. "Yeah, but I didn't care before, right? I just wanted to be popular." "Well, yeah, that seemed to be more where your interests were." "Can you keep a secret?" "Of course." "Would you be surprised to hear I'm not a virgin?" Julia laughed. "I wouldn't have been surprised to hear you were doing it back in 8th grade." Bethany wasn't quite sure what to think of that. She wasn't that much of a slut! But she let it pass. Julia didn't know about the norms in Bethany's school; one thing she'd learned from Mr. Sacks was that there were other ways of looking at the world; what she thought was the way things always were was often just one way things could be. "The secret is more to do with who I'm doing it with." "Oh?" "A teacher." "Hmmmm." After a brief pause, she said, "Like, as an ongoing thing?" "Yeah." "Do you feel good about it?" "Yes!" "Is he married?" "No." "You're sure?" "Absolutely. We meet at his place all the time." "OK, I guess that's good evidence. So, he's inspired you to want to be a good student." "Well, yes, but not the way you think. Or at least not originally." Julia waited for her to continue. "I have this high school buddy who's a real, total nerd. You won't believe this, but he figured out that men actually encode their mental state in their semen, like in the prostate gland." "Oh!" Julia smiled. "Yeah, I know it sounds crazy. But what's more, he found a drug that lets the cervix decode it!" Julia laughed out loud. "That sounds like a great pick-up line for a nerd!" "I know, I know, that's what I thought at first. He offered to help me with my chemistry. But it actually works." "Did you sleep with him and then knew more chemistry?" "No, I didn't sleep with him, but I found out he'd done it with someone else and she got way better at it." "You ever hear of the placebo effect?" "Yeah, I have. I know -- I told you it's going to sound crazy. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. But it's not just some general improvement in the ability to learn. You can get specific facts about the guy's life. I took some before I lost my virginity. Boy was that a mistake." "Taking the potion, or losing your virginity?" "Both! Especially losing it to him, the creep. But given he was a creep, I'm glad I took the potion." She hesitated as ugly memories churned within. Julia looked over at her, waiting for her to continue. "I found out what he really thought of me." "Uh oh. I wonder if that's something I'd like always want to know." "I thought that was very useful. I knew where I stood. Then when I started doing it with my teacher, I found out that he's a decent guy, and that's well worth knowing." "So after you do it, you get their memories?" "Yes." "I don't know, Bethany, this is really hard to swallow." "Look, I knew you'd think I was nuts. But I was listening to what you said about grad school yesterday, and how hard it was. What would it be like if you could actually know what your professors know?" Julia's smile vanished. "Oh, if I knew what Dr. Wilson knew, I'd be in great shape. And you're saying I could learn it by sleeping with him?" She glanced over at Bethany skeptically. "Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying. I know you don't believe me, but there's a way to test this. Experimental validation." "I don't think I want to try to seduce my professor to perform an experiment." "Sure, but... is there anyone else you're sleeping with? I mean, it's none of my business, but you could try it with him." Julia smiled. "To know what Carl is thinking? That would be interesting, that's for sure." Bethany hadn't heard anything about Carl, but she knew the older girl had had a series of boyfriends. "Listen, I'll get some. You can try it. You have nothing to lose." "How do you know it's safe?" "I suppose I don't in the long term. But I know I've been drinking a lot of it, and nothing bad's happened to me." Julia changed the subject, and Bethany knew she just didn't believe her. All she'd accomplished was to make Julia think she was a flake. But the next morning, as Julia was about to head back to Boston, Bethany collared her and dragged her into her bedroom. "Here it is," she said, producing a little vial. "Just watch." She shook it and poured half into another empty vial, which she drained in one gulp. Then she handed the half-full original container to Julia. "See, nothing bad's happening to me. Try it some time with your boyfriend. You take it within three hours, and then when his semen hits your cervix, pay attention to your thoughts." "Bethany..." "You've got nothing to lose, right? If nothing happens, you can think I’m a nut." "Well, OK," she said with a sigh. "I'm a scientist. And you've given me a falsifiable theory and a way to test it." "Right!" --------------------------------------------------------- Julia put the vial in a dresser drawer, intending to keep it as a quirky gift from her well-meaning little cousin. But she found her thoughts moving in unaccustomed directions. However crazy it was, Bethany's potion weighed on her. It was sort of like reading a fortune cookie; you didn't really believe it was your fortune, but it was sometimes interesting anyway. She found herself thinking about it the next time Carl was over. What did he really think of her? Carl was in his second year at the Sloan business school earning his MBA. She'd been in plenty of relationships and knew the limitations. You shared secrets to a certain point, but she knew how much intimacy to expect from any given man. Sex was happening. She gave herself a lovely orgasm as she rode him, then let him flip her onto her back so he could have the freedom to fuck her just the way he wanted. It was the arrangement they had settled on, and it worked. She felt Carl's excitement building, and she smiled up at him, caressing his back. She always tried to pay attention during sex, but sometimes things get into a pattern and you take things for granted. This time she concentrated. She felt his cock swell within her just before he moaned his ecstasy. Of course his semen was spurting up inside her. She'd never felt the stuff actually spurting out with any guy, so she'd stopped thinking about it. She naturally focused on the parts of him she could see and feel. But now she imagined what it would be like to know his thoughts. Bethany's fortune cookie said it would be at that very moment she would know. As they got up the next morning, she asked if he'd go with her to the art museum for a special exhibit. He turned her down without trying very hard to come up with an excuse. Then he didn't call her for a week. When he did, they got together again, and on the surface things were just the same as always. But she was troubled. She reminded herself you couldn't expect a guy to want to do everything you did. And one of you would want to spend more time together than the other; that's the way it always worked. As she got ready to join Carl in bed, she felt a yearning. With a shrug and a smile, she got out Bethany's vial. She turned her back so Carl wouldn't see and drained it. It had no taste, just like she'd said. Julia wondered if it was just water. She was having fun and it felt good as she rode her boyfriend, but because of her anxiety about the relationship and the thought of Bethany's potion, orgasm always seemed just out of reach. She finally faked it, and hoped she'd done a decent acting job. She'd never faked it with Carl before, though she had some practice from earlier lovers. He eagerly flipped her over and began his earnest, goal-directed mating. She tried to act relaxed the way she would if she'd just come, though she was still feeling excited and hungry for release. Just having a guy doing it to her was primally satisfying, and it was more intense when she hadn't just come herself. She looked at him, wondering what made him tick -- what would she learn if there was a potion that did what Bethany claimed? He adjusted slightly to get a deeper penetration and began his final approach. Somehow the angle he picked was just right, and her pleasure built rapidly as each thrust stimulated her perfectly. She gasped as orgasm seized her as he rammed in and out of her with his final thrusts. His huge gasp meant it was almost simultaneous, which made her smile. And then -- She was pretty and sexy, but her boobs were too small. She was naive and idealistic, wanting to advance pure knowledge, and she wasn't smart enough to make it in physics. He pretended to be interested in cultural things for her sake, but it was a big stretch. He liked TV sports, and he wanted to be rich and have expensive stuff. He liked porn, both stories and hard-core magazines, but knew she'd never go for any of the kinkier stuff. He'd have to dump her by the end of the year, and it was hard to pretend to be an earnest, curious guy. However, the fucking was so good he was motivated to hang on as long as he could. Oh, yeah, and there was a bunch of stuff on advanced finance, international business, and marketing. Carl's diminished phallus oozed out of her as he slid off to the side. "Is something wrong, honey?" he asked. "No, everything's great," she said with a smile. "You came twice in a row there -- you've never done that before." "Yeah, I guess I did," she said, her mind still reeling. He looked very pleased with himself. She stole glances at him as they lay entangled. There were no huge secrets, no betrayals. If he knew what she thought of him, he'd probably be offended too. But she also knew that as soon as she could get him out the door in the morning, she'd never want to see him again. He thought she was naive and an intellectual lightweight -- that's what hurt the most. Later, she reflected that a big part of it was that she was afraid he was right. --------------------------------------------------------- It worked. The potion actually worked. Julia apologized profusely to Bethany for doubting her and begged her to get some more. She drove down to Scarsdale just to rendezvous with Bethany and pick it up. She desperately wanted to know more physics, to understand it at a deeper level. She'd been studying hard the past year and a half, harder than she ever had before, but it just wasn't enough any more. Could she really learn physics from sleeping with professors? She liked sex, and didn't have any grand romantic notions. Why not give it a try? Being hit on and ogled was just part of Julia's life, and she had developed graceful ways of deflecting attention. Probably all she had to do was stop actively pushing men away and give a subtle positive sign or two. It was ridiculously easy to get the postdoc Ken Davidson into bed. When he unloaded his sperm in her pussy, thoughts entirely different from Carl's swirled through her brain. Mostly he was thinking of physics -- string theory. She not only got his tangible thoughts on the subject, she got some of his creative ways of thinking about it -- weird geometric metaphors abounded. He thought the sex was fantastic -- he'd had only a few relationships in his life, all problematic in one way or another. She hinted that a reprise was possible if he kept it quiet. So they did it several more times, and each time she could confirm that he hadn't told another soul in the interim. Each time she soaked up more of his knowledge of physics. She felt a little guilty; was she just using him? It's true she wouldn’t have encouraged him if she wasn't after his knowledge, but she did feel a genuine attraction. He was a nice guy and sexy enough. He certainly enjoyed their encounters. She tried to ignore the evidence as long as possible, but she knew he was really hoping they'd become a couple and get married soon. She'd told him over and over that it was just a fling, but that didn't stop him from hoping. Professor Hong Chen wasn't too hard either. He was married with three kids, but he didn't feel much guilt banging the beautiful American any time she'd spread her legs for him. He wasn't going to let her slack off on any of the coursework and certainly wasn't going to take her on as a grad student, but if she wanted to get laid he was happy to oblige. She was of course absorbing his tremendous knowledge of the field. His brain-space was entirely different from Ken's. His main mental habit was careful categorization of everything he read, remembering details and seeing connections among them. If Ken had a geometric approach, Hong's was more like a multidimensional mathematical almanac, featuring tables within tables. Julia leaned against Professor Rajiv Singh as they looked at the journal article together. Her right breast was against his arm, her right thigh pressed firmly against his left. She realized he was saying more about the study he was showing her than he really needed to. He was enjoying her attentions. She leaned forward, ostensibly to get a better look, and her right hand landed on the chair right between his legs. She slid it back towards him ever so slightly to feel the warm bulge between his legs. "Julia," he said. "You should stop doing that." "What?" she said innocently, removing her hand. "You are my student, and while your attention is flattering, the Institute's policies are very clear on the subject." "Oh, OK," she said, giving him her most soulful face. "Sometimes it's hard for a girl to be around a sexy guy so much without getting a little carried away." "That's OK," he said, trying to hide a smile as he returned to the physics at hand. --------------------------------------------------------- With the knowledge she was gaining an immersion in the mental habits of different men, Julia's grasp of physics deepened. When she made appointments with other professors, they were newly impressed with her ideas. Professor Ian Wilson was the prize, but the obstacles were many. He didn't take new grad students and was even less accessible than most of the faculty. But Professor Rosen put in a good word for her, apparently, and she managed to get an appointment. She laid out a few of her recent ideas. He seemed to think she hadn't completely wasted his time and was willing to meet her again. The next problem was that the married professor was not so easily parted from his scruples. She decided to try a variant of what her cousin Bethany had described to her. After a series of ambiguous gestures and touching, neither of them could deny that Julia was proposing something sexual. Her hand stroked the front of his pants. "Miss Johnson," he said with a sigh. She flipped up her skirt to give him a brief view of her vermilion panties. Time for subtlety was over. If she didn’t succeed this time, she'd never have another chance. "I'd like to make you happy, and I'm pretty good at it." "Oh, dear," he said. But he didn't fight with her as she unzipped his fly and fished inside for his penis. It was not entirely hard, but she knew how to fix that. "Miss Johnson..." he said once more. "It would just mean a lot if I could give you some pleasure, that's all. I swear!" she said, descending with her mouth to his organ. "It's not right!" he said, though he didn't try to pull away. "My wife..." "It's not really sex," she said with her most winning smile before returning to licking his sensitive tip. "Oh, dear," he sighed as his erection hardened. "When you put it that way, it's very hard to say no," he said. After a pause, he said, "You know, dear, that if you aren't careful you might get something in your mouth you don't want there!" How sweet! She looked up briefly and said, "But I *do* want it there -- right there!" "Oh, dear," said the brilliant string theorist once more. "Oh, I must say, it really does feel quite wonderful. Oh, my. Careful! I think, oh my, oh no, oooohhhhhh!" With his third spurt safely in her mouth, Julia pulled off. She put her finger up to signify, "I'll be right back" and made a break for the ladies' room. From her pocket she pulled the blunt-ended syringe and sucked the professor's precious bodily fluid from her mouth. Plunging the pointy end up into her pussy, Julia squeezed the bulb, trying to shoot the stuff right onto her cervix. The memories were dimmer than when the sperm shot straight from cock into her pussy, but they were still there. She got some physics, but she was most interested in a hook to get him to teach her properly. She smiled when she found it. While the great man was married, sex with his wife was a very occasional thing. His secret was that he adored girls who were about 10 years old and was troubled that his thoughts towards them were impure. Julia had fun remembering what her life had been like at age 10. Acting the part was easy enough, and he lit up like a little boy when he caught on. He was soon screwing her properly and regularly with great enthusiasm. --------------------------------------------------------- Ian Wilson's mental playground for doing physics was filled with music and language. He loved poetry, and poetic phrases danced in shifting algebraic collections, the emphasis always on movement and sound. Ken had the geometric shape, David had the links to the relevant obscure mathematics, and Ian had the motion. Julia herself added something too -- a synthesis that made sense from her second-hand mental habits of geometry, millions of factoids, and musical algebraic motion. There were two other professors whose seminal influences she very much wanted, but one was in Tel Aviv and the other in Toronto. But she learned who their grad students were and which was working on which project. At the Munich conference she managed to locate them. After one rejection, she managed to seduce one grad student from each professor, and by spending two nights with each one, she got what she needed. As the outlines of the theory first came to light, excited ripples spread out from M.I.T. across the world of physics. There was still a great deal of work to be done filling in the details, but she had the fundamental insight down. She had stood string theory on its head and the path lay clear to a Theory of Everything that was also in some ways a Unified Field Theory. It was the holy grail of physics. M.I.T. deemed it sufficiently original to grant her a Ph.D. Her achievement was so remarkable that top-notch investigative reporters took an intense interest in the case. They learned from her professors at M.I.T. that she had slept with many of them, but no one claimed she had stolen the idea from him. It didn't take long for them to come knocking on Cyrus's door. His discovery wasn't as fundamentally important as Julia's, but it had immediate practical implications that would make Cyrus a very rich man. ============================================================ Chapter 4 Bethany and Fred Sacks trusted Cyrus with the knowledge of their relationship, and Fred started meeting with Cyrus regularly, guiding the boy at the formation of his company. He had to get him at least a little familiar with the grubby grown-up details of intellectual property, venture capital, and corporations. To his credit, Fred took for his trouble only a 20% stake of the initial shares of the company (secretly assigning 1/3 of that to Bethany), leaving the remaining 80% to Cyrus. Cyrus stepped forward when it came to naming the company. "White, Inc." had unpleasant racial overtones, but "Cyrus Corporation" did not. The patent was unassailable. Proving the efficacy of the treatment was ridiculously easy, but establishing its safety was a somewhat longer process. Investors had to estimate how many women and girls would want to use it. Some investors concluded that few would become sluts for knowledge, and they bowed out. Others foresaw a two-step process. Artificial insemination worked if the semen reached the cervix in under a minute, but the effect was attenuated. They judged that many women could be convinced to shoot some milky fluid up their vaginas without viewing themselves as sluts. Then, the theory went, the intriguing benefits of that first, attenuated dose would reduce their resistance to proceeding to actual intercourse to attain the maximum benefit. They also speculated that once stunningly successful women like Julia Johnson revealed the source of their success, societal attitudes would change rapidly. They were right. Based on the valuation of the privately held company, Cyrus at his 19th birthday was worth $7 billion according to the most conservative estimate. There were a variety of intriguing possibilities for names, including "Deep Understanding", "Teach Me", "Personal Tutor", "Fun With a Purpose", and "Joy of Learning". It was ultimately marketed under the name "Insta-tutor", but it was commonly known simply as the "magic potion". --------------------------------------------------------- David was Brian Robertson's younger son. He tried to concentrate on his English. He was the star forward on the varsity basketball team. In the old days, that would have been enough to get him a girlfriend. It still was, and he'd had a few. But he could only have one at a time, and the hottest girls weren't interested. The lucky boys -- the hot boys, the ones the girls wanted -- were the brains, like Chen. Chen fucked a different girl every day -- a different hot, sexy girl, because he had his choice. He knew stuff, so he could teach it. Girls eagerly opened their legs and let Chen fuck away because he could sperm their pussies and in that same ecstatic act teach them calculus, or German, or history. No girls were particularly interested in basketball strategy, sports cars, or guns, his main interests. When he did it with a girlfriend, he could be pretty sure she wasn't taking any magic potion. David tried to concentrate on his English. He tried, but he fell asleep. --------------------------------------------------------- "So what's the deal, Mr. Law man? I'm supposed to fuck the hot little detective girl. Sounds pretty good to me." "I'm sure it's an appealing prospect. But you realize that this 'hot little detective girl' will then know just about everything you've thought of in the past week. So if you're guilty, she'll know it and can testify against you." "I'm not guilty. You know that," said Sid Cabot with a small smile. "There's some pretty good evidence against you already, you know. You can say you're not guilty, and for all I know you're not, but their case is pretty good. If it goes to trial and you're convicted, they can lock you up for 30 years. They're offering you a deal where you can walk in 10 if you do OK in prison. I'd consider taking it if I were you and staying as far away from the detective girl as you can." "Can I just refuse? It must be illegal to make me do her, isn't it?" "Yes, and you can refuse to give a semen sample too, but they'll tell the jury that and let them draw their own conclusions." "What if the detective takes my shot of sperm and finds I'm innocent?" "Well, then you walk, of course, if you can fuck another witness or two to get corroboration. You're the only one who knows what the women are going to find. But if I were you, I'd take the deal they're offering." Sid read up on the test. They said that if you jerked off many time in the days before the test, they wouldn't know anything you thought about before then. They said most people couldn't help thinking about important things, though. But some yogis could pull it off. And Sid was strong and disciplined. He just wouldn't think about anything except happy things. But that was just his back-up plan. Plan A was to stop before he came. The setup was a little weird. They took him to a snazzy motel room. He was alone with the pretty detective, but they had told him that men were outside the door listening, and she had a panic button she could press at any time if she didn't like what he was doing. She wore a short black dress, lacy bra and panties. She sure was one hot chick. (She was also Fred Sacks's niece.) Nice ass, and she let him do her like a dog. It sure felt great. He panted as he poked into the little woman over and over again. Fucking a cop; imagine that! It would be so easy to shoot off inside her, but he was disciplined. He had his plan. He just needed to pull out and say he couldn't manage to finish. But it felt so great. Just a few more strokes... "Give it to me, baby," she said. "Shoot it right up my pussy!" Oh, it was tempting. He started to pull out and let his cock calm down when she squeezed. Aw, shit, he was past the point of no return! He still pulled out, but his cock twitched and the stuff spurted onto the back of her thigh. She must have felt it, because she leapt away from him. She sucked the jism from her leg into a little syringe-like thing she produced out of nowhere. Then she stuck it way up her pussy and pressed the plunger. It was hot to see her so eager to get his sperm back into her body. After a moment, she smiled at him. "I guess you're not guilty, are you?" It had worked! He'd kept enough bad thoughts away. They offered him two more hot detectives to fuck. His lawyer told him not to, but he fucked both of them, now seeing no need to hold back. He coated their innards with his manly stuff. He was strong and disciplined and could control his thoughts. Maybe he should have listened to his lawyer, he reflected two years later, as the guy in the uniform slid the needle into his arm. For while he'd been only an accomplice to the crime they'd charged him with, there were those two earlier murders, and yeah, he'd fucked 'em before he killed 'em. He hadn't managed to keep those thoughts out of his mind completely. The first detective had smiled at him as if she hadn't found anything incriminating, sneaky bitch, but it was just an act. The three little detectives he'd screwed had all given independent reports and they all agreed. That had led them to other evidence too, of course. "Any last words?" "Well, I wish I hadn't killed anyone. Wish I'd listened to my lawyer. But that second detective -- Mary, she said her name was -- she sure was hot. Tell Mary I love her." And at the moment, he really meant it. Moments later, he felt himself slip into unconsciousness. --------------------------------------------------------- Kyle was Brian's older son, David's big brother. In the old days, he might have been a ski bum. But the magic potion offered him new opportunities. To start with, he was a stunning hunk. He'd had an endless stream of women and had learned to be quite the lover. His love in life was thrills and extreme sports. He climbed the highest peaks, including Everest. He skied the most spectacular mountains, scuba dived through inaccessible coral reefs, went bungee jumping and paragliding. For his new occupation, he would top off his lifetime of memories with a couple days of intensive activity. He would then keep his appointment with a woman who had agreed to pay him handsomely for the service. She would drift from an orgasmic experience into the visceral reliving of some extreme sports that she herself would never engage in. --------------------------------------------------------- Roger was Cyrus's first cousin. He lifted his eyes from his thick electromagnetism book, leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. It was kind of interesting. He kept reading about electromagnetism day after day, reviewing the important stuff constantly and delving into obscure parts of the field to keep it interesting. By this time it was his specialty. There wasn't much point in reading other areas because the young women who were the real students would get that from someone else. When he started grad school, he'd had visions of becoming a great physicist, but the new seminal instruction technology his cousin Cyrus had created had already taken over by that time. He studied hard, but all the girls had to do was spread their legs for some professor and absorb his knowledge that way. The girls could learn so much more rapidly, and not just facts but to a certain degree the intangible mindset of the great men as well, the mindset that allowed creativity. So he would never be a creative mind, never really move the field forward. He would forever teach electromagnetism. But he smiled as he thought about his latest lesson with Meghan. Great minds used to view teaching as an unpleasant distraction from research. But for men like Roger, teaching had never been so much fun. In theory, admission to grad school was still based entirely on academic achievement. But part of his interview had been to fuck three professors. It wasn't official, of course, just evening recreation. Everyone knew that if you didn't, you'd never get into grad school. From his semen they could judge his ability to master material, but just as important, they could judge his moral character and personality. Anything in a young man's past that would upset a young woman was grounds for rejection. All off the record, of course. Fortunately he had lived a fairly uneventful life and was a decent person. Surely the professors had picked up on the sexual background hum that permeated his life ever since puberty. Every female he met got evaluated as a potential piece of ass, not to put too fine a point on it. But apparently just about all the young men were the same way. It was something of a rude surprise for the women of the world to learn how prevalent this attitude was, but they got used to it. There had been articles written about that process of accommodation. But he didn't give wolf whistles or make lewd remarks, and he had never actually groped a girl against her will. Sure, he had dismissed many of the women who crossed his path as old or fat or ugly, but all the guys did that, and apparently he hadn't done so with undue disgust. He hadn't been a bully or made fun of other boys. He hadn't tormented bugs. They also evaluated his sexual performance. No gay man was going to get into a top-notch grad school. He had to be able to be a decent lover to women, even if they weren't especially attractive. He passed the tests -- and, oh yeah, he was pretty smart too. He got paid grad student wages for his teaching, but as soon as he earned his Master's degree, he'd drop out and make a decent salary as an instructor. But the real perk of his job was the inherent joy in the teaching. Just about every day there was a new girl who needed one-on-one tutoring. And these girls were generally hot. Very hot. For women to get into a top-notch university as an undergrad, they had to demonstrate a natural intelligence. But they also had to be the sort of girl that would turn on a tutor. That meant physically attractive, warm and friendly, with a strong sexual interest in a wide variety of men. They needed to lubricate easily, enjoy the sex act and come easily. For the truth was that the more exciting a tutor found his student, the better he was able to convey his knowledge to her when he inseminated her. That was for undergraduate admissions. For a woman to get into a top-notch grad school, the requirements on native intelligence and intellectual achievement were greater, but she still had to be sexy. It really helped to be a bombshell. Intro courses were taught by men less talented than Roger. He liked teaching grad students, but the upper-level undergrads were more carefree and fun. They came to his house at midnight, the conventional hour that had emerged between tutors and students. Lovely young women dressed provocatively showed up at his door. After some conversation, they started making out and clothes flew off. He kissed eager lips, nibbled ears, sucked on nipples, and fondled feminine curves, including small, delicate ones. By convention all the girls waxed themselves regularly to maintain smooth, hairless feminine parts. Sparkling eyes gazed up into his as experienced warm mouths pleasured his cock. Before long it was time for the real lesson, and eager legs spread wide. The girls gave themselves some unobtrusive finger work to achieve a quivering readiness just before the penile insertion, and then he plunged in. Learning worked best if he didn't hold back but just let his animal nature take over. With wet, hot and engorged feminine tissues right on the edge, the girls usually began coming in seconds. He made sure he got a deep penetration before a frenzied series of deep, primitive stabs, accompanied by animal grunting. In no more than a minute, he let loose, spewing gobs of creamy educational material all over the upper cunts of his sexually satisfied students. He usually stayed engaged inside the girl until his cock softened and then slid onto his back, happy and spent. He welcomed the girl as she snuggled against him and then he drifted off to sleep. He knew the girls went into a pleasant reverie laced with electromagnetism before falling asleep themselves. In the morning they were gone. It would have been nice to wake up with them, but then both of them would have wanted a reprise, and that was no good. He needed to build up his stock of semen for the next night's lesson with another hot, gorgeous student. Yeah, he'd dreamed about being a great physicist. This way he would always be a second-class citizen. But without a cervix, you just couldn't progress very far in any field of knowledge. He knew his place, and the consolation of an endless stream of hot, beautiful, grateful girls in his bed was no small thing. --------------------------------------------------------- "Resisting Temptation" in _The New York Times_ by Rachel Johnson (Bethany and Julia's aunt) A new medical procedure has been approved by federal regulators and will be available to all women later this year. It renders a woman permanently incapable of learning by seminal injection. This strikes many people as strange; all a woman has to do to avoid learning by seminal injection is not take the magic potion. Yet the new procedure is expected to be very popular. To learn why, listen to Amber's story. This writer would have judged her to be an average woman all around, in looks, personality, and educational attainment. She isn't so easy on herself. "I struggled to make C's in school. I didn't believe in being one of those girls who learn by being a slut. It's against my values. And as you can see, I'm chubby and have a horsy face." I wouldn't have put it that way, but I could see a grain of truth to what she said. "So as you can imagine, I didn't get a lot of attention from the smart and handsome guys. Not even the nice guys." Many writers have remarked on the recent popularity of nice guys. When dating, many women will take the magic potion when sex is likely. Even before the man's ecstasy has faded or his breathing returned to normal, she will learn the essentials of his character. If it is unappealing, that will be the end of the relationship. Good character is the hot new commodity. Many men will insist on using condoms and make sure their seed and their secrets stay their own. That would seem to be a good thing; in the old days a man who religiously used a condom was a responsible partner. But now the nagging question becomes: does he have something to hide? Amber's story continues. "I really wanted a man, and I knew I'd be better off not knowing what went on in his head. He could keep his secrets and I'd keep mine. Then George came along and asked me out. As you might expect, he wasn't brilliant or handsome or Mr. Congeniality. I told him flat out that I didn't want to know any of his secrets. I told him I knew all the goody two-shoes were marrying the smart, pretty girls. He seemed relieved, and confessed that his thoughts and his past might leave a lot to be desired." George noted politely that condoms made sex a lot less fun for him. After several dates they mutually agreed she'd go on the pill instead. Amber swore she'd never take the magic potion. They got married. "Everything went well for a while. He had a steady job and was a good provider. Sure, the honeymoon faded. We had our squabbles. But we were both happy when I got pregnant." As often happens, the arrival of a new baby stressed the marriage. "He didn't always come home right after work. I began wondering if he was having an affair. Then when I'd be in the drug store, the magic potion was always there on the shelf. It would be so simple. All I'd have to do was buy it. He'd never know. But I'd promised him I wouldn't." But whenever they had a fight she found herself tempted again. "One night he didn't come home. He called to say he was too drunk and was staying with a friend. The next day the package in the drug store got so tempting. I held off for another week, but then when he was still distant and grumpy I just couldn't resist. I told myself he'd never know because I'd just never tell him anything I learned -- unless he was being untrue to me." Things didn't turn out the way she planned. "I was so tired those days, mostly I just did sex for his sake, and this was no exception. I was also nervous because I'd broken my word and taken the potion. Then it happened." Amber pauses, pain on her face as she recalls the memories. "He wasn't kidding about having bad stuff in his past. He'd been a bully in school, and he'd tormented his little sister. I think you'd say he sexually abused her, but that wasn't the worst of it. He made her life miserable. When I thought about it later I realized his own father abused him and his mother was a weird, cold woman. But I didn't see that at the time. What really stung was that he thought I was a dog. He knew he was no great shakes himself and I was the best he was going to do. He liked me OK, but not far below the surface he always thought I was very unattractive. I knew it too, of course, but it's easy to fool yourself, you know? I mean, we were making love, and it was fun. That meant he found me attractive, right? Wrong. Well, right and wrong. He wanted sex a lot more than I did, and he liked it. That counts for a lot, now I think about it." I asked her if he was having an affair. "Well, he had been untrue a few months before. He was drunk and had a sad, quick little encounter with a woman just as drunk as he was. And that made my blood boil, of course. But thinking about it later, I realized he felt miserable and guilty about it. If I'd been thinking, I would have realized that was the most important thing. He really wanted to be true to me, and the exception kind of proved the rule, you know? And he really had just been drunk that other night. He couldn't face coming home and having me nag at him. I really was a nag; I could have done a lot better." I asked her what happened. "I burst into tears right there in bed. I'd sworn he'd never know I'd taken the magic potion, but that didn't last five minutes. He felt guilty because he knew he'd betrayed me. Things got really cold after that, and a month later he moved out. We got divorced and now I'm squeaking by on child support and minimum wage work at the Stop and Shop." Then she got wistful. "But you know, the thing is, I think my betrayal was the worse one. I'd promised I wouldn't look into his mind, and I did. And I found just what I had said at the beginning I didn't want to find out." I asked her if she would have felt different if he had been cheating. "Not really. Maybe it's easier to say now that I'm all alone. But he was coming home at night. The paycheck was always there to pay the bills. He wasn't beating me or anything. He really liked little Jimmy, and it was nice to watch them together. Sometimes we all had fun together." I probed further. What if he'd left her in a few years? "Well, so he'd have left. What did I gain by throwing him out sooner without giving him a fair chance?" If she regretted her decision, would she ever take him back? "I've thought about it. If I could somehow not know what I learned, I think I would. But I can't. I can just watch his sister crying and crying and him feeling happy about it. I can't make that memory go away. He said he regrets it, and that's why he was thinking about it, but that's still not enough somehow. I think our thoughts were meant to stay in our own heads." I told her about the new procedure, and she didn't hesitate a moment. "I'd have had it in a flash. No question. I would have done it before we got married. I'd have done it right after he didn't come home for the night. I knew taking the potion was bad, but I just couldn't stop myself. I'd encourage every woman to get one, at least if she's going to get married." So that's one woman's testimony. She would have paid anything to remove the temptation. And she'd have had the doctor give George proof too. Of course, things are always changing. Scientists are already thinking about a way to reverse the procedure in case women change their minds. And in turn other scientists are thinking about ways of improving the procedure so it can't be reversed. Most of the scientists I talked to thought that the irreversibility will win out in the end. There's the other solution. A lot of men just keep using condoms, over and over without fail. Some relent when they're actually trying to start a baby, but others freeze their sperm and thaw it out later, when it can start babies but doesn't have any memories left in it. --------------------------------------------------------- "The Bubble in Women's Science" Rachel Johnson, _The New York Times_ After a decade of "the potion" becoming an over-the-counter drug, we women have every right to feel proud. There have been dramatic strides forward in everything on earth that requires thinking, and it's all been due to women. In the bad old days, sexism was everywhere. Men had the top jobs and they colluded to keep the women out. Slowly, step by step, things were changing for the better. Not fast enough, but they were changing. The magic potion turned the world upside down overnight. Women who were willing to take charge of their own sexuality for their own ends learned what the best male minds thought and even absorbed their habits of thinking. Privately, a lot of the emerging women geniuses were impressed at how sharp and able those men were when they could experience a version of it directly. Yet it made sense; no one had ever said that men were *less* talented than women. Armed with the knowledge of multiple top men in any given field, the women surged ahead, outpacing their male colleagues (except certain areas of mathematics, for reasons that remain unclear). Once the secret was out, many men responded by keeping their semen and thus their knowledge to themselves. Others gave in to the new rampant cross-pollination in the spirit of scientific inquiry. Others shared their knowledge when the potential student was sufficiently alluring. Thereby hangs another tale, how the rise of women in all fields of endeavor has been accompanied by terrible losses in terms of "lookism". As in the past, women are judged by their appearance and rewarded accordingly. The rewards now are immeasurably greater than anything achievable before, but the smart women who are also beautiful and hot are the ones making it to the top. Women have risen to the top not just in the academic world, but in industry and finance. We are even making inroads in politics. Women are still a minority of office-holders, but they are more influential behind the scenes. Politicians' wives tend to buy a lot of magic potion. It's been an easy ride. All we women have to do is let the great men penetrate us and deliver their sperm -- their deepest and most powerful desire to begin with. We have to study, sure. We work. But we don't slave the way we all used to. No poring over journals for tedious hours on end. But this sudden surge is not sustainable. It may take years for the structural weaknesses to undermine progress, but they are already at work. First, great men tend to be older. Then they die. Before they die, they become impotent. Before they become impotent, many tend to lose the urgency of desire. Second, younger men are demoralized. They can see that they're second class citizens and always will be. Sure, many of them study hard, wanting to succeed and drawn to the opportunity to share their knowledge in such a pleasurable fashion with the up-and-coming, sexy women. But that ferocious drive to discover, to go beyond what is known, to get there first -- it's largely missing. And what is the motivation to go that extra yard to learn the very latest developments? If they succeed, they'll get to teach them to women who are no younger than 30. Selected for brilliance at that elite level, their looks tend towards the average. By sticking to safer subjects, men get to instruct women in their 20s, women who are far more numerous and where beauty is heavily favored. Yes, the young women have native smarts, but there is plenty of room to admit only the gorgeous to elite institutions. The very sharpest women are few and have the range of appearance of all women. What man wants to study a difficult subject for six months so he can teach what he knows to a half dozen not-so-young women of average appearance when he can study less and teach hundreds of nubile, gorgeous young things? Another reason why men are going to be less effective is more controversial. Men entering grad school are selected to be reasonably 'nice', so disturbing thoughts and memories don't interfere with the learning process, either directly or by upsetting the students. By selecting for "nice" men, we're rejecting most of the alpha males. Very often it was the rude, obnoxious, and selfish men who were the most driven and turned out to make the most original contributions. Saying that we're choosing wimpy, ineffectual men to be our teachers is surely an exaggeration, but there is also a grain of truth to it. We women have made great strides by tapping into the minds of accomplished, brilliant, driven men. But we have been much less successful in tapping into each other's minds, because that of course has to be done the old-fashioned way. It's laborious and tedious, like it always was. The ease of sexual learning spoils us. If nothing is done, this current surge of creativity in all areas of endeavor will tail off. Women will still predominate, because up through the undergraduate level, we get to imbibe through our vaginas the thoughts and thought patterns of many very smart men. But we will have to collaborate with each other to make progress at the cutting edge of our fields of expertise, and all signs are that that will be as slow a process as it was in the old days. Political considerations, striving for recognition and promotion, beating out the other guy -- all were feature of the old system. Some feminists used to claim that women were by nature more cooperative, and if they ran the world people would work together more harmoniously. To that, all we have to say is: Ha! Women may on the whole be more cooperative, but the ones who are driven to be the best have all those same failings as the men they've replaced. There are reasonable measures we can take. We can pay men more to master the most complex subjects. We can reward them with sexual access to the very hottest women on earth -- something which in the new era no longer smacks of prostitution as much as it would have before. We can honor them and give them accolades. We could promise that any secrets their sperm reveals will stay private. And we could let the mean, crude, and obnoxious men study and teach us too; we women could perhaps just learn to absorb the disgusting crud lurking in the minds of some men with equanimity. We've already learned to absorb in detail the fact that most men really are at some level thinking of women as pieces of meat all the time. Female voices point out that the crud lurking in the minds of some women is just as disgusting, though that is little comfort to an individual sweet and innocent woman. The fact that she would in a different world have to absorb vile thoughts from women doesn't make it any easier to absorb them from men in this actual world. But none of those measures can replace that almost fanatical drive to dominate. Even with the most strenuous efforts, men will never be able to grasp the most advanced concepts -- the poor creatures are doomed to whatever mental habits their own solitary brains can come up with. Women will have to teach each other the old-fashioned way. If the magic potion technology could be enhanced in some fashion to allow female to female transmission, the possibilities would be limitless, but prospects are dim. Semen is just very complicated stuff, and women do not have prostate glands. The possibility of male to male transmission is slightly more likely, but cervixes are very sensitive instruments, and no men have them (the nose is very sensitive to chemical structure, but not in the right way). No existing transgendered individuals have both a cervix and prostate gland that are intact and 100% natural. Efforts to create such individuals confront huge scientific barriers, not to mention the ethical concerns. The truth is that going back to the amphibians, if not before, male and female are complementary, in a constant dance of competition and cooperation. Evolution favored male strategies to change female behavior (bonding to them alone, for instance), and favored female strategies to resist this and to instead decipher male motives (will he stay and help raise the baby?). The brilliant Cyrus White found that far more information is encoded in semen than evolution ever 'intended'. The discovery has launched women into positions of dominance, partially redressing the millenia in which men dominated. Men may now be in some sense the helpmeets of society's top women, but their help is essential. --------------------------------------------------------- Bethany married Fred Sacks. She was curious and frequently invited men to teach her new subjects intimately. Fred Sacks continued to teach high school math, both in the classroom and by way of private lessons. It was a typical marriage in the new age. They had no children. Cyrus married Anne. He was remarkably disciplined in two ways. He started as CEO of his company. But before long, he recognized that talented women could do the job better than he ever could and retreated to Chairman of the Board, and then religiously kept his vow not to let it occupy more than one day a week. The rest of his time he devoted to biochemical research. He never made another discovery on a par with the magic potion, but he did solid work at the National Center for Disease Control. Second, he never 'taught' a woman other than Anne, staying faithful to her for his entire life. Women and girls fell all over him for three reasons: fame, riches, and knowledge. He rejected all advances with quick finality. Anne was just as faithful, though she certainly could have learned a great deal if she chose. She raised four children. They were both content to live a modest lifestyle, though she usually employed a nanny. She spent most of her time working to give away their immense fortune to worthy causes. ============================================================ What did you think? I'm always eager for comments, whether positive, negative or mixed. Comments to sterling27@live.com.