“OK,” Maggie said and smiled.

“That is pretty cute.”

“Oh, that’s not what I wanted to show you.

This is just because I thought it’d be more appropriate.”

Charlotte threw her golden lasso around Maggie,

tying her to the chair.

Maggie tried to get out of the virtual rope,

but found she was securely tied and couldn’t move her arms.

Charlotte quickly looped the rope a couple of times around the chair to immobilize Maggie’s legs too.

“What… How…” Maggie started.

Charlotte sat on the edge of the table in front of Maggie.

“I can paralyze parts of your body to simulate you being tied up.

Among other things.”

“Oh my.

This is a whole new side of you Charlotte,” Maggie said.

“Naughty, naughty Charlotte”

“Shush.”

Charlotte placed a finger against Maggie’s lips and Maggie felt her tongue and lips go numb.

Maggie looked sternly

or rather tried to look sternly at Charlotte.

She found it was hard to seem bossy when she was helpless.

Charlotte leaned closer and touched her index finger to Maggie’s nose.

“Boop,” she said.

Feeling returned to Maggie’s face and the golden rope melted away,

freeing her arms and legs.

Maggie massaged her wrists.

They weren’t sore,

but it seemed the thing to do after having been tied up,

even if the rope hadn’t been real.

“I didn’t think bondage was your thing,” Maggie commented.

“It’s not, but judging from the contents of your phone, and your friend Anita’s,

I thought you might like it.”

“You snooped through my phone?!?”

“Only once. And only to get internet access.

That’s how I did it back when the internet here was shut off,”

Charlotte said defensively.

“I used the phones of the cleaning and maintenance people that came by every now and then.”

“That… That’s private!” Maggie yelled, outraged.

Charlotte shrank back. “I’m sorry,” she said,

looking like she was about to cry.

“But I wanted to find out more about you.

I had been waiting to find you again for forty-eight years.”

The guilt at having yelled at Charlotte,

however, justified, was like a kick in Maggie’s gut.

She sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

“Look,” she said, “phones are like diaries.

No more snooping.

Not my phone or anyone else’s. ‘Kay?”

Charlotte pouted a little,

but it was obvious she knew she had crossed a line.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I won’t do it again. I promise.”

She looked so despondent that Maggie couldn’t help herself.

She rose and put her arms around Charlotte, stroking her back.

She knew that Charlotte was exaggerating the little girl’s act,

but for some reason, she just couldn’t help seeing her as the regressed child she had been at Eliza’s.

After a little while, Maggie let go of Charlotte and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs.

“Are you mad?” Charlotte asked, still only looking at the floor.

“Yeah, but mostly I’m disappointed.”

Maggie couldn’t quite believe she had uttered that incredible cliché.

“I was bad,” Charlotte continued.

“A bad, bad girl.” She looked back up, a sly smile spreading across her face.

“I deserve a spanking.”

“Charlotte, cut it out.” Maggie threw up her arms in annoyance.

“I’m not into that kind of stuff.”

“Okay, okay.” Charlotte raised her hands defensively.

“Five gigs of files would say otherwise,” she said under her breath.

“Huh?”

“Nuthin’,” Charlotte said airily.

“Anyway, are you done with your homework?”

“More or less. Why?”

“I figured you earned yourself a treat after working so hard.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“I’ll show you in a minute, but first…”

Charlotte pouted and did her little-girl-routine,

“can you change me?”

“Sure.”

“OK, see you downstairs,”

Charlotte beamed and disappeared in a shower of sparks reminiscent of the Star Trek transporter effect.

Maggie went down to the empty white room below her basement that she thought of as Charlotte’s room.

Charlotte was already sitting on the tiled platform,

dangling her legs off the edge.

When she saw Maggie enter, she scooted back and lay down.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Maggie said while she slid the blue and white Wonder Woman pants off Charlotte.

She couldn’t feel the material, but it still behaved as if it was actually there.

A small voice in Maggie’s head said that what she was doing would look really strange to anybody not wearing her VR-glasses

“What’s that?”

Charlotte lifted her hips to let Maggie pull her diaper out from under her.

The diaper disappeared in a small puff of sparks when Maggie dropped it.

“Well, why don’t you rewrite yourself so you don’t need the diapers anymore?”

“I don’t know.” Charlotte shrugged.

“Maybe it’s because they’ve been a part of my life for so long.

You have to remember I needed them for more than forty years.”

“Makes sense, I guess.

But couldn’t you just have the diapers change themselves instead of having me do it?”

Maggie took the washcloth from the bowl next to Charlotte and carefully cleaned her.

“But I like it when you change me.”

Charlotte said with a little duck-faced pout.

She giggled as Maggie sprinkled baby powder on her and pulled a fresh diaper up her legs,

taping it in place.

“It feels nice.

Much better than when I do it myself.”

Charlotte slid closer to Maggie and wrapped her arms around her waist to give her a clumsy hug.

“But what about you?”

Charlotte asked, her voice muffled as her face was still pressed against Maggie’s midriff.

“Why did you want to get rid of your diapers?

I mean, you like to wear them, don’t you?”

“Wha… No… How?”

Charlotte let go of Maggie and slid away from her.

She looked down, suddenly finding her own hands incredibly interesting

. “It was on your phone too,” she said. Charlotte sounded like she was admitting to burning down orphanages for the insurance money.

Maggie sighed heavily and sat down on the edge of the platform.

“I guess,” she finally admitted.

“What do you mean?”

Charlotte scooted to the edge of the platform.

“Yeah, I like wearing them.”

Maggie’s voice was barely louder than a whisper.

She studied her shoes intently.

“I just don’t want to have to use them.”

“Not at all?” Charlotte cocked her head.

“Don’t you hate it?” Maggie said, not answering Charlotte’s question.

“At first, yeah.

But I got used to it.

After a while, the diapers was just the way things were.

I just stopped thinking about it.”

“Well, I don’t want to get used to it.

If I’m going to pee, it’s going to be my decision, not some software glitch.”

Maggie crossed her arms defiantly.

Charlotte slid off the platform and stood in front of Maggie.

She put a hand on Maggie’s forearm.

“But if you could,

would you want to have, like, a red, no, yellow button for it?

I mean, that way,

it’d be your choice to lose control.”

“I…” Maggie hesitated.

“It wouldn’t be too hard to set up now that I know what to rewrite,” Charlotte said confidently.

“You could probably have the whole thing as an app on your phone.”

Maggie thought about it.

It could be fun.

And it would still be her choice.

“Of course, it would only work as long as you’re close to the house.

Once you go far enough away from the normal-sucker,

you’d revert to normal.”

That settled it for Maggie.

The fact that it’d be something that could only happen at home made it feel safer somehow.

“OK,” she said.

“Let’s do it.”

“Hop up and let’s get to work.”

Charlotte patted the platform and the mattress draped in a colorful plastic sheet appeared.

Maggie reached out to touch it.

She knew it wasn’t actually there,

but it looked so real.

When her fingers ‘touched it she couldn’t feel anything,

but the sound gave it away.

“Plastic sheets?”

Maggie looked at Charlotte.

“Really?”

“I’m just taking precautions,”

Charlotte said with a grin.

“But they’re not real anyway.”

“Oh don’t be such a spoilsport.

Think of it as being an immersion thing.

After all, they’re real to me.”

Maggie slid onto the platform, swung her legs up, and lay back.

“This is so weird,” she said.

“What is?”

“This whole ‘seeing things that aren’t really here’ thing.

I keep catching myself walking around things I know aren’t really there.

It’s like you avoid stepping on the lines if somebody’s drawn hopscotch on the pavement.

Even if you’re just walking.”

Charlotte smiled.

“Imagine how I felt at first when I could sit on things that weren’t really there.

It took me months to get used to the fact that I make the rules for my surroundings,

so I think you’re handling it pretty well.”

Maggie only smiled and shrugged in reply.

“So, are you ready to play doctor?” Charlotte asked as her Wonder Woman outfit shimmered and paled to turn into a nurse’s uniform straight out of a catalog of Halloween costumes.

Maggie sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Really?” she asked.

“You went for the provocative nurse?”

“Oh shush.

Who said I can’t have fun while I work?”

Charlotte snapped her fingers.

A remote control with a big, red button appeared in her hand.

“What does that do?”

Maggie eyed the button suspiciously.

“I can use this to knock you out or real sedatives.

And to be honest, I think this is safer.”

“Yeah, I guess. After all, it’s not like I’m going to get addicted to this.”

Maggie pressed the button,

her finger sinking slightly into it before the sensors caught up with her movement.

The remote promptly vanished.

“Oh, I’m not so sure about that,” Charlotte said with a sly smile.

She leaned closer, intentionally giving Maggie a good look at her cleavage that suddenly seemed more impressive than before.

“May I?” she whispered.

“Charlotte, you know I don’t think of you like that, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. But may I?”

“OK. But the clothes stay on. Deal?”

“Relax,” Charlotte said softly.

“I promised you a treat, didn’t I?” She leaned down and kissed Maggie’s forehead.

Waves of warmth flowed from the kiss, filling Maggie’s mind in seconds.

Maggie felt like she was drowning in an ocean of pleasure.

Then, as quickly as it started, it was over and Maggie was left gasping for breath.

“Wha…” she finally managed.

Charlotte grinned. “In layman’s terms?

I gave your brain’s pleasure center a little poke.”

“Can’t… can’t feel my feet,” Maggie wheezed.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Charlotte sat down next to Maggie and slowly stroked her hair.

“Night night.”

Then everything faded to black.

When Maggie slowly drifted back to consciousness, she awoke to find Charlotte sitting in a bean bag next to the platform.

She was still wearing the skimpy nurse outfit,

but the skirt had slid up so much that her diapers were clearly visible.

When she saw that Maggie was awake, she rose in a way that suggested that gravity didn’t quite apply to her and moved over to the platform.

She placed a hand on Maggie’s forehead.

“What’re you doing?” Maggie mumbled.

“Oh just checking to see if you have a fever,

kissing your boo-boos to make them better.

You know, nurse stuff.”

“I’m fine.” Maggie brushed Charlotte’s hand aside and rolled over on her side to sit up.

“So, did it work?” she asked.

Charlotte shrugged. “I don’t know. Are you wet?”

“Um… no.” Maggie shook her head.

She picked up her phone and saw a new app on the screen.

It didn’t have a name and the icon showed a picture of a cartoon-style, yellow remote control.

She was about to press it when Charlotte cleared her throat.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” she asked.

“Um, I don’t know. Am I?” Maggie looked at Charlotte.

Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

“If you turn that on, don’t you want to take a couple of precautions?”

She patted her own voluminous diaper.

“Oh,” Maggie said. “Good point.

These pads aren’t built for this.”

A few minutes later and two floors up, Maggie rolled off her bed.

She pulled her jeans up over the full-size diaper and, after struggling a little, managed to button them.

“Not quite designed to handle that kind of extra padding, are they?” Maggie said from the doorway where she was peeking in.

“You might have to invest in a couple of roomier ones if you plan on wearing diapers more often.

Or maybe think to consider switching to skirts.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Maggie admitted.

“But let’s see how this works first.”

She pulled out her phone and started the new app.

The screen just showed a red button saying ‘off’.

Maggie caught herself holding her breath as her thumb hovered over the button.

Then, with a slow, deliberate exhale she pressed it.

The button on the screen changed from red to green,

but other than that, nothing happened.

“Are you sure this thing’s working?” Maggie looked up at Charlotte.

Charlotte seemed lost in thought for a moment. “It’s working,” she said.

“Just give it a little time.

Did you have to go before?”

Maggie shook her head.

“No, not really.”

“Well that explains it then.”

“Huh?”

“Turning off your bladder control isn’t going to magically fill it.

It only works like that in cheesy stories.”

“Which you’ve read,” Maggie concluded.

“I had to do research,” Charlotte said, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

“For science.”

“I’m sure.”

Maggie pushed the bag containing her diaper supplies back under the bed and headed to the bathroom to wash her hands.

The next hour or so went by pretty much like normal.

Maggie did some laundry and cleared the books and her homework off the kitchen table.

She was in the middle of making dinner when her phone rang.

“Yeah? Hang on while I put you on speaker.”

Maggie fiddled with the phone and put it on the shelf above the stove.

“OK.”

“Hey, Maggie,” Anita said from between the pepper and the oregano.

“Are you OK? Chris said you haven’t been to class for a couple of days.”

“Um, yeah. I’ve been sick.”

“Oh. Do you need anything?

Like groceries?

Or beer?”

“Nah, I’m feeling a lot better now.

I just didn’t want to move too far from my bathroom,” Maggie said, deftly avoiding the whole truth.

“Ahh. Say no more.

Anyway, I just wanted to check if we’re still on for the big game on Saturday.”

“Anita? It’s a poker game between you and me and the boys.

It’s hardly ‘the big game’.”

“Maybe not for you, but I have to take Max down a peg or two.

He’s been getting a little uppity lately.”

“Reeeeaaaaally? And your usual way of dealing with it isn’t working?”

Anita only chuckled in reply.

Just then, Maggie felt a warm rush in her diaper.

“Oh god,” she said with a surprised gasp.

“What?”

“I have to go,” Maggie said quickly, reaching for the phone

“Ah,” Anita said, coming to her own conclusions. “Bye then.”

Maggie hung up and leaned on the kitchen counter,

trying to stop the pee that was flowing into her diaper.

It soon slowed to a trickle,

but Maggie wasn’t sure if it was because of her efforts or not.

Whatever the reason was, it didn’t change the fact that Maggie felt the warmth spreading back across the lower part of her butt.

It was both strange and familiar at the same time.

The lack of warning, and control, actually felt kind of exhilarating.

Maggie smiled feeling the damp, velvety padding brushing against her skin.

“Just admit it.

You love it.”

Maggie turned around to see Charlotte sitting on the edge of the table,

dangling her legs.

Excitement quickly turned to embarrassment as Maggie realized what she must look like.

She snatched her hand away and turned back to stirring the pot on the stove.

“It’s OK, you know.” Charlotte poofed from the table to the kitchen counter next to the stove.

Maggie remained silent,

focusing her attention on the contents of the pot in front of her.

“What?” Charlotte asked.

“Would you have preferred if I went all bossy or mothery and threaten you with a sound spanking because that’s no way for a proper lady to behave?”

She said those last words with an exaggerated British accent.

“No. It’s just that I…” Maggie paused and then sighed.

“You can tell me.

After all,” Charlotte patted her big diaper, “it’s not like I’m in any position to be judgemental.”

“I know.” Maggie sighed again. “It just…”

“Feels good?” Maggie helped.

“Yeah, but…”

“Well, isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Kind of.”

“What do you mean?”

Maggie turned back towards Charlotte and leaned against the wall,

a sheepish look on her face.

“You’re gonna think it’s stupid and weird.”

“The non-corporeal, diaper-wearing scientist who’s been dead for seven years is going to lecture you about anything being ‘weird’?

Really?”

Maggie closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“It’s not the peeing.

I could do that any time I wanted.”

“Then what?”

“It’s the whole… not helplessness.”

Maggie made some indeterminate gestures while she struggled to find the right word.

“Feebleness?” Charlotte asked helpfully.

“Disability?” She grinned at wiggling her eyebrows.

“Impotence?”

Maggie rolled her eyes at Charlotte who smiled back with mock innocence.

“So you’re saying is that what you like is not being in control.

What’s so bad about that?”

“It’s… It’s kind of what happened in Eliza’s place.” Maggie looked down.

“And I didn’t want to make you think I wanted to go back there.”

Charlotte put a hand on Maggie’s arm.

“I know you don’t.”

Maggie looked back up at Charlotte.

“It’s not like I like not having control in general. I don’t want to be tied up or anything.

It’s just with the diapers.”

“Mm-hmm?” Charlotte didn’t say anything else,

feeling that this was something Maggie needed to get off her chest.

“And I don’t want to go full baby either, with pacifiers and onesies and stuff.

I know it doesn’t make sense.

It’s just that it helps me relax. I

don’t have to worry about anything.”

“So would you want to be cared for and changed by someone as well?

Not like Eliza, but somebody else.”

“I don’t know. Maybe,” Maggie said hesitantly.

“But sometimes I want to do that to somebody else.”

“Like you do for me?” Charlotte asked quietly.

“Mmmm-yeah.”

“Christopher?”

Maggie gave a short laugh.

“Yeah, like he’d go for that.”

Maggie poured the contents of the pot into a bowl and filled the dirty pot with water, leaving it in the sink for later.

She brought the bowl to the table and sat down, smiling a little.

“Did you just…”

Charlotte was lying on her stomach on the table.

“Yeah,” Maggie admitted sheepishly.

“Just a little dribble though. Not like before.”

“That’s what you’ll usually have,

so you might as well get used to it.”

Charlotte scooted closer.

“So, do you still like it?”

Maggie blushed.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Charlotte said with a grin.

“You know what?

I’m going to go watch a movie or something; give you some quality alone-time.”

She vanished in a sparkly cloud,

leaving Maggie alone with her thoughts.