Jon's mother Linda was sitting in her living room, reading one of her favorite books, when suddenly the doorbell rang. At the moment, everyone was at home (her husband was a traveling salesman and wasn't in town for the next few days). Jon was in his bedroom, presumably doing his homework. Her Goth daughter Zoe was in her bedroom as well, but who knew what she was doing. And her youngest son Mikey was in the TV room playing a video game. Linda was the closest to the front door, so she was the one who answered it.
After opening the door, she was greeted by her neighbor. Jerry Chance was his name, she believed. Unlike most of the neighbors living near her, she didn't really see that much of Mr. Chance. She barely remembered the man's name.
"Oh, Mr. Chance. What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Actually, it's Doctor Chance. But we rarely know each other, so I'll let the error slide." He paused, then continued. "I just came by to show you my new invention. I needed to test it out on someone, and as it turned out, I picked you."
"Um ... what are you talking about? Test it out on someone? I think maybe you should ..." Before she got to finish her sentence, however, Jerry lifted up his device and flashed it in her eyes. She looked momentarily dazed, then seemed normal again. But if his calculations were correct, she wasn't really normal. Instead, she was completely susceptible to anything he told her.
First, he'd try something simple.
"Your name is Pussycat. Isn't that right?" he asked.
"Yeah. That's my name. I know it's kind of strange, but my parents wanted me to have something unique."
"Strange? It's not strange."
"Of course not. I know I lot of women with that name."
Jerry smiled. This was working out great. But enough with the simple stuff.
"Pussycat ..." Jerry began.
"Oh, I don't think we know each other well enough to go by first names, Doctor Chance. Please call me Mrs. Gibson," she said.
We don't know each other well enough now, he thought. But just wait.
