A Resurgent Whore #8
Are We Alone?
Welcome to chapter eight of an ongoing gritty noir series from ‘Sin Street’ created in partnership between Kate Granger and Sissitrix. Chapters published weekly on Friday’s.
Follow a woman’s desperate tale of humiliation starting in a pit of despair before her rebirth, revenge, and resurgence. This series began in a dark place because it must.
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Allen?
I’m here Erin.
Are we alone?
Would you prefer us to be?
For a short while, yes, please. We need to talk.
I’ll tell Chloe we’re going offline.
I’d felt a familiar welcoming buzz of excitement throughout my body from the moment I lay in Allen’s comforting gel bath. My pod wanted me too and made that obvious with a passionate trembling of their own.
Our relationship felt like a visceral and unconditional love.
Max knew I needed some alone time, but I’d promised he and I would fuck for real once my pod had sufficiently immersed me in their life-enriching love.
Light hue LED colors glowed and flickered brighter, then dimmed as my mood was manipulated by sensory intervention.
We’re alone now Erin. Chloe says she’ll suck Max’s cock just enough to have him ready to fuck you later.
Thank her and thank you too, Allen.
You’re welcome, but I’ll have to thank Chloe later because we are fully disconnected right now.
Oh, I see.
I wouldn’t pretend to understand how my pod functioned, but a constant warmth shimmering through my body infused all senses when I was inside Allen.
Are you troubled Erin?
Yes
What plagues you, my dear?
My moral compass spins wildly out of control. I’m doing the most awful things without caring about any consequences or the impact of my actions on others.
I felt a mild all-over body tingling. Allen had electrified my gel bath, stimulating every muscle fiber. It was more than a massage. So much more as I was deluged by pleasure.
Are you going to fuck me, Allen?
Would you enjoy that Erin?
Yes, very much.
Then should I make love to you?
I’d prefer you make that decision for us both.
Do you wish to be dominated by me, Erin?
In here… yes, but only by you. I’m going to burn the whole fucking world down outside this pod.
Okay. I shall take over for a while.
A light piano melody that I couldn’t recognize wafted softly in the background. Allen’s gentle fleshy tendrils felt so much lighter and better than human fingers when circling around each breast, massaging my nipples, almost sucking them like I was being milked.
Allen?
Yes, Erin.
Can you impregnate me if I ever need that?
Yes
How?
You or I may order human male semen and technicians can load it into my system. I only need one perfect swimmer because I can reach your egg while you sleep.
I knew why I’d asked such an outlandish question. It felt like my mind wanted to press buttons, push boundaries and explore options. Max had seriously peeved me to the extent that I knew, unless he changed back to the savage man I knew and loved, we were fucked.
Warm, wet tendrils wrapped around each knee joint as Allen pulled my legs apart forcefully. I was trapped, my fuck holes were easily accessible, and it thrilled me.
Smack
Smack
What the fuck?
I’m thrashing you, Erin. You wish to be chastised for wrongdoing, right?
Oh, fuck…. Yes.
I screamed and writhed in pain and ecstasy. Control was removed, I felt free and taken back to a time before my murderous burden.
I’m also going to fuck you until it hurts. I won’t stretch your pussy wide because Max will know and he deserves your hole to be tight.
Oh, yes, please.
Do I have your consent?
Yes… yes, oh fuck, yes.
I felt in awe and so electrified as Allen somehow mimicked a full swing paddling of my ass cheeks. It felt like a hardwood, possibly mahogany, deliciously stinging the slice of tender flesh between my ass cheeks and thighs, perfectly weighted, timed, and thoroughly accurate
Choose a safe word please Erin.
No safe words. I don’t want that shit. Push me to the limit but not beyond, at least not yet.
I didn’t even need time to consider it. My body wanted the danger and pain with absolutely no restraints. If I couldn’t struggle in life and feel its intensity crashing into me like waves battering against granite cliffs, I didn’t want to live at all.
Thin pulsating tendrils slid smoothly inside my pussy and back passage, snaking deep, stimulating my senses. Another wrapped itself around the base of my clitoris, squeezing it tightly until my creamy pink bud popped free of its protective skin pouch.
Allen encapsulated my hard pearl with a tendril that behaved exactly like the most exquisite sucking mouth.
My back arched in passion and rapture like the moon’s curve when Allen sucked my creamy pearl, passing a light vibrating electric shock down the nerve cluster inside my cunt.
My soul lifted, drifted, and I meditated peacefully once both holes were being fucked gently.
Smack
Smack
Smack
Smack
Smack
Oh, that feels insanely good. More, please!
I'm very displeased Erin. I sense you need a damn good thrashing.
I did a fantastic thing, Allen. I carved my enemy up and fucking loved every minute. I’m fucking powerful.
You need to be more grounded in the consequences of your actions.
Then fucking beat me, Allen.
You tore up a playing card. It can still be used, but the damage defines Chester now. You took a man and adjusted him to become less, and yet more.
How so. I don’t understand the concept of less and more with regard to a stub of a man.
Chester is less human but more humane. The evil spirits have been cast out and he has no ill will or greed left. You took away his darkness and he only has death left to look forward to.
Oh, fuck. I hadn’t considered that, Allen.
You wanted to change him from being a danger to being neutered.
Yes, that was partly my intention, as was revenge for what he did to me, but how do you know about what I did? You weren’t there.
Smack.
Smack.
Smack.
Smack.
Smack.
Argh! Fucking hell… that hurts you pod cunt!
It’s supposed to be painful, Erin.
Smack.
Smack.
Smack.
Smack.
Smack.
Argh! Argh! Argh! Oh fucking Hell! Oh wow, that really fucking hurts, Allen. Keep going but answer my question.
The thrashing of my ass intensified and I was surprised by its utter perfect consistency. Both my cheeks hurt deliciously, but I knew the deep welts would bleed now and continue until later when Allen eventually healed me.
The cock inside my asshole had bloated to a perfect size, filling but not stretching my back passage, fucking me at one-third the speed my pussy was being railed.
We are all connected Erin.
Fuck… you mean we’re connected to Chester’s pod?
For two minutes each day. All pod AIs connect, we share experiences, then go our separate ways, processing what the collective has learned.
My ass cheeks seared and signaled unspeakable pain to my brain, then suddenly numbed as I floated into a nirvana.
I was being fucked ridiculously fast, but Allen kept their cock size small ensuring my hole would still be tight for Max. I felt as though one lover was punishing and using me while preparing my fuck hole for another.
Fuck! Fuck! Argh! Fuck!
I orgasmed violently, feeling completely out of control, thrashing around wildly, screaming in ecstasy. I tightened both ass cheeks as the spanking strokes on my ass cheeks lit up, then detonated every taboo synapse in my mind.
Fucking hell, I need Max.
You’ll have him soon.
I need more than just him.
You have me.
I need more than you and him.
Max loves you.
I don’t love anyone, Allen.
I love you, Erin.
This is too fucked up.
I’m sure Allen knew I was close to letting out a blood-curdling scream once they stopped fucking both my holes. My body felt exhausted but at the same time, completely relaxed although both nipples felt wonderfully sore.
My ass burned like the fires of hell. Allen wanted the pain to access my gentle soul, negotiating peace while describing to it how vile I had become. All it did was make me want to crush my enemies.
Can you connect me with Chester’s pod?
Anytime you’d like.
And who has control while I am there?
You do Erin. Sissitrix set the entire system of pods to be commanded by you within reason.
Do they have an override, then?
Yes, In case you err from a righteous, albeit wicked, vengeful path. The only person who can select the euthanasia and torture programs is Sissitrix.
Okay. Could I fuck Chester in the ass if I wanted to?
It would be rape.
Yes, but could I do it?
Would you like to?
Maybe. He caused my rape.
You took his limbs.
I don’t care. Please answer me, Allen.
My pod paused and I felt tension and reluctance. I was stepping close to boundaries but then, whoever made an omelet without cracking a few eggs?
Yes, you could rape him, Erin.
Connect me to him now, please.
Of course.
I felt pensive in the moments before our connection, feeling rage and fear for my soul while darkness engulfed me.
Suddenly I looked down on my victim and felt the individuality in his pod hand me control of its service tendrils and all settings.
Chester slept with a weird, almost serene smile on his face.
Hello Erin
Who are you?
I’m Joseph.
Are you like Allen?
In some ways and yet far more morally ambiguous than they are. I’m like you in that regard. I harvested Brian.
Oh fuck. Did he suffer?
Yes. Brian was a weak and pathetic man which is why I ground him to dust.
What do you mean by being morally ambiguous?
I fucking hate Chester.
How? Why?
Because I’m connected to you right now. I feel what damage he caused when selling your body.
I watched Chester sleep for at least ten minutes. His face darkened occasionally and pain flickered horribly in his expression.
How are you configured for Chester’s treatment?
To heal.
And pleasure?
No. Sissitrix instructed me to defer to your wishes in that regard.
Why does he look like something is hurting him?
He’s having horrible nightmares.
Can I touch him?
Yes.
My mind commanded a tendril to move and it did immediately, as though it were my own appendage. I stroked Chester’s left leg stump and he shivered, whimpering in pain.
It's a psychosomatic reflex, Erin. Chester is not actually feeling pain, rather he believes he ought to be and flinches accordingly.
I began to fully understand the manifestation of my decision to alter Chester. Using my mind, I reset the pod to stop all medication. I touched him again, and he recoiled horribly.
He feels pain now, Erin.
Is it bad?
Yes.
When I touched him, he sounded in pain.
It’s extreme but not all physical.
What pain are you referring to?
Chester feels remorse for a life spent inflicting cruelty on others.
It’s too fucking late for the girls he killed.
I touched his face, stroking gently before completely covering Chester’s mouth so he was forced to breathe through his nose. When I wrapped a second tendril around his throat and squeezed, throttling him, my victim woke up fully, struggling against my grip.
I tightened my grip, enjoying restricting his access to oxygen, but I didn’t entirely close off his windpipe.
“Do you see how you feel right now Chester?”
He nodded almost imperceptibly with absolute stone-cold terror glinting in his eyes.
“That’s what you did to me. This is how it felt for me to be tied up by those cunts.”
I drew a third tendril from its source and blocked one of Chester’s nostrils, constricting his neck further until only the slightest wheeze fed his body with life-giving oxygen.
When I superimposed my face on his LED screen, Chester’s horror intensified.
“I’m here Chester and I am your god.”
Suddenly an enormous sadness swept over me as my brutal behavior became obvious. The consequences of my surgical alterations of Chester looked ugly and I was responsible. An internal conflict raged between the sparse goodness in me and an overwhelming darkness.
My sadness at his plight washed away, replaced by joy as I recalled my suffering and watched Chester’s ensue. When I let go, just before the lights in his eyes extinguished, he choked, gasped, and let out a pathetic scream. I felt ashamed of myself and disgusted with him so I retreated, handing back control to Joseph.
Set his treatment for maximum healing and pleasure.
What proclivities should Chester enjoy please Erin?
The ones he most relishes.
Anything else?
Yes. Give him that enjoyment for one minute every hour.
And then?
Let him feel the pain of his injuries recovering but no more. He must suffer as I did.
I stroked Chester’s face gently, enjoying his pleasured moans and ecstatic grin, knowing the reprieve would end soon. He was an animal, mine to control and fuck with however I wished. I knew any sympathy I felt was being squeezed out and that someday soon Chester would suffer more than I had.
My mind was a tumult of emotions while dilemma, hatred, vengeance, conflict, and hypocrisy fought for the primacy of my soul.
Hatred for Chester had won this time.
Thank you, Joseph.
Goodbye, Erin.
As I left, retreating into Allen, I heard Chester moan pitifully before screaming horribly.
And I smiled like the destroyer of souls I had become.
Once disconnected from Joseph, I bid farewell to my pod lover and popped their lid. Max must have been informed my session was ended by Chloe because their lid opened seconds after mine.
My boyfriend smiled and pointed towards the end of our pod area where a large, gray slate wet room with multiple shower heads like a jet wash was installed for clean-up.
We met under a warm tropical monsoon. Lovers entwined, connected by my silken smooth flesh and Max’s delightfully hairy skin, laying flat on bulging muscles.
The gel from our pods dissolved quickly, mixing with water before sluicing into a drain.
My hand slid down his washboard stomach to Max’s cock which felt enormous and stiff like a steel rod.
I looked up into his eyes, slightly faking a soft, gentle disposition toward my lover. Memories of throttling Chester continued driving my arousal more than my proximity to Max.
“Did Chloe suck Max’s cock real good?”
“Yeah, she was incredible. She said it was being done to prepare for you.”
I leaped into his arms when Max lifted me high up and with both his hands cradling my ass cheeks.
His kiss seared my tender lips a moment before we touched. He tasted like strawberries on a hot summer’s day and I thought to thank Chloe for preparing my lover so exquisitely.
His tongue felt gentle inside my mouth, no more the urgent rapture to which I’d been subjected in past overly eager kisses. Max was measured, gentle, assured and I thought perhaps his journey was as turbulent as mine.
I spurred his back with both heels and Max lowered my pussy down his massive cock until it filled me while I stared into his eyes, seeing love and respect.
I felt confused.
After showering, we made love in our bedroom. Max even fucked me under a full moon while bent over a balcony safety rail. If our fucking were a competition, I won because Max fell asleep first.
I couldn’t sleep and paced around the house for a while, eventually arriving in the only room that really interested me. When I sat down beside my pod, I donned Allen’s service headset, speaking aloud rather than thinking my words.
“Allen?”
“Hello, Erin.”
“How are you?”
“The question is irrelevant Erin. You know how I am and came to check on Chester.”
“How do you know?”
“We share a pathway to one another’s consciousness. When you speak, I feel the real emotions you do.”
“You’re saying I can’t hide anything from you?”
“Why would you?”
I knew ignoring Allen’s probing was raising suspicion and building barriers between us, but I wasn’t ready to spill all my beans.
“How is Chester?”
“Joseph reports that he is fine and repairing well.”
“Okay.”
“Are you having doubts about the pain you inflicted?”
“No. I’m utterly convinced a message must be sent to all Sin Street miscreants.”
“Of which you are now one, Erin.”
“Fucking touché, pod man.”
I threw the headset in anger, sensing in that final moment that Allen became surly at my ad hominem attack. After I strolled away, feeling vexed by my general lack of clarity, the fridge, and a bottle of chilled Chardonnay beckoned.
“Come out, come out… wherever you are.”
I’d sensed a woman, probably by her scent, but I couldn’t be certain. It surprised me that I felt no fear, relishing the danger.
“Make that two glasses, please Erin.”
“You shouldn’t sneak up on me. I’m not afraid of monsters now that I have become one.”
Bliss Paradox stepped into the semi-light, smiling sweetly at me.
“I see you got my key.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you know why you’re here?”
“You are ready to move on Steve Pincer?”
“Yeah.”
“Hannah is watching him, right?”
“Yes, but I’ll deal with him personally and that time is soon.”
“Why was I summoned about this, Erin?”
“You’ll report what happens to Steve but keep my name out of it for now at least.”
“Fuck that. I’ve heard rumors about how you treated Chester.”
“Steve will be much worse.”
“And if I refuse?”
“You’ll leave Sin Street within twenty-four hours and never return, Bliss.”
“By your command?”
“If you like. Let’s not forget who is worse. Them or me?”
“You went too far. Dehumanizing Chester frightens people. You’ll become no better than them.”
“That’s why I want you beside me every step of the way. I’m just getting started in sending my message.”
“I’ll report the truth.”
“I’m counting on it. You’ll leave my name out of reports, though.”
“You are suppressing the truth, then.”
“I’m giving you access to a story you’d otherwise be scratching around in the dirt for. Don’t be an ungrateful cunt and observe my one rule or fuck off.”
She looked stunned, and I was pleased about that while I poured our wine. When I passed a glass to Bliss, she smiled less confidently and sipped, passing compliments for my choice with an appreciative nod.
“It’s from Max’s cellar.”
“My compliments to him.”
“I’ll pass them on. He has his uses.”
“Ahh, trouble in paradise is it?”
“Something like that. Max is suddenly weak and cares too much about money. I’m sure he will come to his senses soon, though.”
Bliss strolled onto a massive patio deck next to Max’s living room. I followed, slightly irked by what seemed a power play.
When she placed her glass on a waist-high wall, gripping the steel rail banister above it tightly, my glass joined hers and I stepped close behind until our bodies touched.
I wrapped her long hair in a palm and moved it aside, planting soft, wet kisses on her neck. Bliss whimpered, moaned, and gripped the steel rail tighter, enjoying, not spurning my seduction.
“I won’t be your moral compass, telling you when you’ve gone too far.”
“I want a hack reporter, not a guardian angel.”
“And if I see things, I’ll report them.”
“You’ll report everything as you see it. When the time comes, you’ll be the one to reveal my name.”
“But not yet?”
“Definitely not yet. I need time.”
I wanted my story told accurately. It seemed the only way I might be constrained to do the right thing, and Bliss knew that.
It was also the only way I could terrify the right people.
“I’ll help you all the way mistress, but I won’t lose my decency, not even for you.”
“Good.”
“I have a snippet of information for you, Erin.”
“Go ahead.”
She held her glass out for more. I poured and she tantalized me. Her eyes suggested we might become lovers, her touch when I handed a glass back was like that of a girlfriend.
“Brian gave life to Red October.”
She stepped forwards when my knees buckled. I stared into Bliss’s eyes looking for answers, seeing only more mystery.
“I don’t know how or why Erin. It’s a complete mystery that I can’t explain.”
“What makes you believe Brian was involved with that cunt?”
“Your husband spent time in the Sin Street sanatorium?”
“Yes.”
“That’s where Red October originates. He was created by Brian.”
“Fucking why?”
“In what month were you born Erin?”
“October.”
“Has that not occurred to you as coincidental?”
“Oh, come on… fuck off! Are you saying Red October was created to kill me? I have no criminal record.”
“Fucked if I know, Erin. Not much about Sin Street makes sense to me. Chester’s being named the ‘stub man’ these days. They say an artificial intelligence life support pod is keeping him alive. They also say you had Brian’s organs harvested… what do you make of it all?”
“Hang on. How do you know all of this?”
She stepped towards me, almost close enough for us to kiss. I smelled her bouquet, a mix of perfume, sweat, pheromones, and pussy.
“Why do you want my help, Erin?”
“Because you are a great reporter.”
“There you are. You aren’t my only source or the single scoop I’m chasing.”
“Be careful sweetheart, because there are monsters in the darkness.”
“Are you threatening me, Erin?”
“Definitely not. I’m warning you because I need you alive.”
When I cupped her chin in my palm Bliss looked vulnerable. When I leaned forwards to kiss her, she did nothing to stop me. Our lips touched gently like a lover's hand stroking a silken sheet.
I burned like a furnace when her tongue flicked slightly, almost submissively inside my mouth. She kissed more passionately, almost desperately when I kneaded a breast through the sheer fabric of her dress and I knew then that she was mine when I decided it was time.
She turned away, staring out at the night, sipping her wine from a glass held by trembling fingers. Bliss seemed self-confident, which I liked, and so long as she danced to my tune, I’d allow her some measure of mild arrogance.
“We’ll become lovers soon.”
“What about Max?”
I leaned closer, nibbled her earlobe, and whispered.
“Max is watching us right now, but I’m not ready to fuck you.”
Max thought I hadn’t seen him skulking in the shadows, listening to us. He retreated like a leopard dragging its prey silently into the bough of a tree.
I saw you, Max.
“Stay as long as you like Bliss. I’m going to bed now. I think Max needs a blowjob to get him through the night.”
“Watch him too, Erin.”
“Thank you, Bliss. Let yourself out or join Max and me.”
I’m watching every fucker.
I joined Max who pretended I’d stirred him from a deep slumber.
“Hi babe.”
“Hi Max.”
“Where were you?”
“Bliss Paradox visited. She had some information I needed. You paid her off with a two hundred dollar bottle of wine.”
“Cheap at double the price.”
“I kissed her too.”
“Will there be more than a kiss?”
“I’ll definitely fuck her Max but for now, let’s take care of you.”
“In what way?”
“The only way.”
After I swallowed Max’s semen, he drifted off to sleep. I took a little while longer to join him, suppressing a maelstrom of thoughts and emotions that felt like a minefield.
Could Allen get me to sleep?
Of course, I could Erin.
I didn’t acknowledge my pod’s response. The fact that Allen could communicate with me while disconnected felt terrifying.
Who is really on my side?
I am Erin. I am your warmth and comfort in the darkness.
Next Chapter:
Sissitrix.... The eyes follow me everywhere. The sexual exploitation of Erin by Allen is exquisitely drawn. I love the raw descriptive style of all your artwork. Working with you is immense fun and truly rewarding.
Firstly, I thank you both for another EXCELLENT episode into your nightmarish universe of horror and madness. Sissitrix--flattered by the reference to my Dali dream sequence info in your note, the the artwork makes great adaptive use of it. Also very flattered by (as you, Sissitrix, stated in a reply to one of my comments on 6 or 7 from last weekend) any "influence" my remarks may be having--I certainly saw some of my thoughts manifest in this installment! Now to my analysis.
This was an innovative episode, relative to the others--far more psychological, and spiritual (I'll get to that in a bit). From a macro perspective, it's the darkest episode thus far--I'll go far, far out on a remote limb here beyond the material and surreal, into the mystic, metaphysical, and, yes--spiritual. Episode 1 saw Erin broken and destroyed as a person, driven by revenge, but, crucially, NOT the righteous, avenging-angel style revenge of the vigliante, whose archetype is the righter of wrongs--a "Batman," or to bring it into the far gritter, real-world of '70s crime-drama, Charles Bronson as gun-toting NYC architect Paul Kersey, angered by the indifference of the justice system toward law-abiding citizens held hostage to a decaying urban civilization. These figures seek to right wrongs, to assume the roles once provided by the law--to do a job "legitimate government," emasculated by society, can no longer do. The difference with Erin is that besides taking revenge on her torturers, she does not want to restore order, bring law, cleanse, or reform--but to enhance evil, profit from it, and take it over for herself--she has no interest in Good (though she has a spark of decency left--which she can never snuff out--her conscience always troubles her, no matter how drowned out it is), but wants to dive into Evil, and actually--immerse herself in it--BATHE in it. As the story has played out, we've seen her slide more and more into the dark. If you recall, in a prior comment I speculated on the pods, their uncanniness, their origin (Sissitrix--you provided some background in a separate piece, about that Peter guy who designed the first fuck factory stuff, AI dildos and other Cronenberg-esque creations one is unlikely to order from the Adam & Eve catalog!), and eerily hypnotic effect on Erin. I submit the unorthodox view that in this Episode, Erin has finally attained her desire of bathing in Evil.
Here in Episode 8, I got a heavy diabolical possession vibe. I know you're not doing a horror show here (in the supernatural sense) but it meets all criteria that subsist within traditional Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology for how the Devil and demons in general operate to destroy human beings--and you've got them all here, present in Allen, Joseph and the "pod people." Yeah--corny rip-off term, but Erin calls Allen "pod man," so she opened the door! She was love-bombed with the caring and nurturing of Allen's helping with her convalescence, in which she felt more loved physically than when she was actually with Max (the artificial and illusory preferable to the actual and emotionally satisfying). This time, she indulges and surrenders to sadism at Allen's "hands"--and is shocked at the pain, but also loves the pleasure--it's an otherworldly, ecstatic rapture--Allen tells her that Chloe is prepping Max so that he can make love to her later on--but Allen is the real one who loves her--he won't stretch her out too much so that Max won't know. The machine basically rapes her--but again, she derives an ecstatic, whirlwind pleasure from the pain and confusion from being wrapped in its tentacles--it's something she wasn't expecting--the intensity. Plus, it accuses her of her "crimes" while she's being raped and beaten. Afterwards, she's so turned on by the dark power that she wants to be even more sadistic to Chester--and she inflicts pain and torture on him, willfully and eagerly subjecting him to a hellish vengeance. Sissitrix--I like the image of the open eye with the reflection of Erin--great! And Kate--again--brilliant writing capturing the horror and depravity here.
I'll submit that here' in Allen's claws--Erin's sold her soul--"Erin, do you consent?" Bye-bye Erin the human being, hello Erin, lost among the perfectly possessed. The post-pod sex scene between she and Max--and the blowjob in the bedroom--is unremarkable and businesslike--pedestrian, quotidian, cold, and dead--like her soul has become--machinelike. She even tells Bliss that she's become a monster. Further support for the "possession" analogy comes from the fact that Allen and she are now one being--it's in her head, knows what she knows--guides her thoughts and actions.
I'll admit that I'm most likely way off base this time--but I'm calling this one as I see it. I've done lots of study about the medieval and theological over the years--also the occult realms and the obscure and arcane, and this whole situation here in this episode gives me a creepy, preternatural, diabolical vibe. I now yield the floor to your rebuttal or laughter!