This story is written in the universe of The Agencies.  It is a unique comic universe we created for our line of tickle comics to take place in.  These stories are presented to give our readers a better understanding of this universe, as well as flesh out some of its main characters.  Agent Starlight was introduced to the comic universe in issue three, and Karma was just recently introduced to the series in issue seven.

It is midafternoon, mid August 2120.

Nicole held her handgun close, and tried to remember the last time she had seen Mirth. This gun was a beautiful weapon, and it was the last thing her good friend had given her, before she disappeared without a trace two weeks ago. No one has any idea what happened to her, but somehow, Nicole knew. It was in her dreams...just one word repeated...

...Karma.

That one name reminded her of a danger she could have neutralized almost three years ago to the day. When she was just a junior interrogator. The agency made a mistake in not listening to Nicole then. Now that she's the chief interrogator, the same mistake would never be made again on her watch.

Those memories begin. It was August 7th, 2117.

Nicole began to blink hard a couple of times, shaking the cobwebs out of her head. She looked over, eyes glazed and barely functioning, to the alarm clock on the right side of her bed. It was bright and sunny outside, but her body was telling her a completely different story. She was still slightly woozy from the previous night's events, but nothing she couldn't handle. She had just turned 19, and her birthday party turned a little wild. She remembered faces and surreal images, but no names. Conversations, but not words.

5:45am, right on the button.

And speaking of buttons, the snooze button was the exact thing Nicole missed awfully, thereby earning herself a painful tumble onto the floor. Cursing to herself and rubbing her head, Nicole, to be known as Agent Starlight in a future time, began her early day.

As she knelt on the floor, the alarm was still squawking with utmost intensity. Nicole grabbed one of her boots, and flung it forcefully at the clock, which immediately shut it up. Perhaps permanently. At this point, she didn't really care.

She lazily stood up and stretched. The warm sunrays rejuvenated her abused body, and she smiled.

Then screamed as she felt eager fingertips wraps themselves around her ribcage.

Someone had snuck up and tickled the bejesus out of her, and it was far too early for it. There was only one guy who could pull off a stunt like that.

"Spectre" she cooed, without even looking.

Kedrick smiled at his friend. The two had hit it off famously at the academy, and he adored the way she laughed. He adored her shapely feet and toes, when springtime came around and her footwear had become more revealing. He adored her smell, her hair, and her nurturing disposition. There wasn't many things he could name that he didn't like about her, in fact. He had to remain professional on this project, and try not to let his feelings get the better of him. But it was hard.

Especially when his good friend, whom he had an enormous crush on, stood like a goddess in flooded light, in her boxer shorts and baby doll t-shirt that rode up almost near her breasts as she stretched. He could never pass up such an opportunity. Not a chance.

Behind Kedrick came the loud, methodical footsteps of the third person in their group, Karma.

Karma, sporting sunglasses and some killer heels, strutted into the room and smiled at her good friend Nicole.

"The door was open" Karma explained, "and I see you've received your wakeup call."

Nicole grinned and pushed Kedrick away playfully "with him around, the doors always seem to be open."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Kedrick asked with mock indignation.

"I think she's begging to be woken up properly..." Karma started. "Initiate tag team maneuver 57"

Nicole's eyes got wide with a playful fear. "Don't you dare!" But before she could bolt for the bathroom to get dressed, Kedrick was already behind her, getting her in a wrestling move that pinned her arms up above her head. All she could think about was how damn fast her friend is. He's good to have around in a pinch. He wrapped her up before the last syllable of Karma's orders were even spoken. With just a casual twist, Kedrick had Nicole wrapped up tight on her bed. Nicole playfully struggled, but she knew she was done for.

Karma's heels clicked on Nicole's hardwood floors. The echo was ominous, and Karma enjoyed watching Nicole's reactions to her approach. Karma knew her friend was doomed, and she relished in Nicole's resistance, even if it was all in fun. Karma brushed her own long, flowing red hair back, put her sunglasses on her head, and straddled Nicole on the bed. Nicole looked like a trapped animal that didn't know whether to fight back to play dead.

Karma didn't leave her friend hanging any longer, and attacked Nicole's ribcage with ferocity. Nicole quickly broke into giggles, and thrashed around as much as she could. Which really wasn't much. Karma was a trained pianist, and certainly played Nicole's midsection with precision. Nicole begged them to stop, as her laughs would wake up the entire building. But Karma didn't live here, and simply instructed her friend to muffle her screams if she didn't want to wake up the neighbors.

This was pure torment for Kedrick. He was, at all times, trying to remain cool, calm, and collected. And here he was, lying on a bed with the object of his affection. And she was just dressed in what she slept in. Which wasn't much. And she was constantly thrashing around pressed up against his body, while he witnessed another gorgeous friend take pleasure in making her squirm around. It was just more than he could bear. He stared transfixed at her heaving stomach muscles convulse as she involuntarily laughed pleaded for Karma to stop. She had the cutest little belly button too. It almost hypnotized him...

And just as the assault started, it ended also. Nicole lay breathing heavy on the bed, still giggling. Kedrick gave her a little smack on the bottom, then leapt off the bed, afraid that the physical contact and rolling around with her already gave away too much.

Karma smiled at her, "Better than coffee, no? Now get dressed, we'll be waiting"

*****

10:25am

Despite her invigorating wakeup call, Nicole nevertheless relied on her oldest companion to get her through the morning: coffee. She sipped her cup slowly, allowing the heat and caffeine to permeate her system. She also wore a pair of sunglasses, much like the ones Karma had. The three were inseparable, and now all worked together on their senior project, which was necessary for graduation from the academy.

Karma was the oldest among them, at 21. She had spent four years at the academy, and was now ready to leave its halls to peruse the life of an agent.

The machine was her idea.

It was as epic in scope as it was grandiose in nature. No one had ever attempted anything like it. And no one knew where the hell Karma had received the grant money to help build it. She had received a couple of grants from the local controlling corporations, but they didn't total more than $50,000. And anyone who had any sort of knowledge of the complexity of this machine understood that its cost must be closer to the two million dollar mark. Where the rest of the cash came from was as big a mystery as any.

The machine was simple in concept. It heightened the powers of anyone it was used on.

Taking a step back, the earth had been consumed in a global holocaust in the 2070s. A meteor had struck the planet. The meteor itself was tiny, and simply landed in the vast oceans of Earth. However, this meteor carried microscopic lifeforms that defied any categorization currently known to mankind. These organisms wiped out a majority of the world's population within weeks. Over 80% of earth's seven billion were destroyed within a year of impact. Those that survived the spread of the lifeforms had special DNA that allowed them to survive. And even more amazing, those that could survive could usually also harness the powers of these lifeforms.

They were called controllers.

In the beginning, it took shape mostly in the form of simple telekinesis. The human would command the lifeforms in their brain, and those lifeforms would reach out to manipulate the lifeforms outside the body. So if a person wanted a remote control to a television set brought to them, the lifeforms would listen, and surround the remote control, and push it towards the human.

Then as time wore on, humans were able to harness these powers even more, to do even more amazing things. All agencies during this time have programs for the most gifted controllers. These programs are very secretive, and the training procedures for these programs are among the most guarded information that exists.

Nicole's power is unknown. This is not uncommon, as most of the population do not know how to harness it properly. Or some people just aren't destined for power, as the lifeforms that dwell inside their mind are of a weaker strain, and cannot influence the outside lifeforms with any amount of regularity.

Kedrick, known as Agent Spectre, has a power that he's never really fessed up to. People around him know exactly what he can do, but they cannot explain exactly how he can do it. He can get into any place, at any time, without any trouble. He is as silent and deadly as a ghost, hence his call sign. But no one has ever seen him teleport or become invisible. He just kinda shows up.

And Karma, whose real name was abandoned long ago, has adopted her nickname because of her unique ability. She can turn any aggressors controlling powers back onto themselves. So if another controller were to harness the lifeforms to create a superheated ball of energy to hurl at Karma, her lifeforms would simply turn the fireball back towards the person who created it. Her lifeforms function on a very primal basis, and simply protect her from any harm.

Kedrick stopped work on the machine, and wiped off his sweating brow. It was warm in this room, and the constant running and humming of Karma's machine didn't help matters. He glanced down at Karma, who was stuck firmly inside the machine, making those constant adjustments to get it to function just right. She was the epitome of a split personality. Kedrick found her impossibly attractive and feminine. And yet, she had an unusual penchant to building and repairing machinery of any kind. It didn't even matter if she'd never come across it before. She just understood items of a mechanical nature. So here Karma was, red hair falling around her shoulders, fingernails and toenails painted perfectly red, with grease stains on her hands and face as she maneuvered through the gears. He stared at her for awhile in amazement, this walking contradiction. She worked with grease, grime, and gears, and loved every second of it. And she did it while wearing high heels and a smile.

"That should do it!" Karma exclaimed proudly, while quickly backing off and standing up. "This baby is ready for a trial run. It obviously won't be ready to do its primary objective for a couple more weeks, but its scanning functions should now all be operational."

"Are you ready?" Karma asked eagerly. She motioned Nicole towards the long table where she was supposed to be strapped down. It looked cold and uninviting.

Nicole knew this first test was supposed to be done this afternoon. This was just a first step, to ensure all the scanning devices were operational. When the machine actually went live, they had enlisted another friend of their's to volunteer for the empowering process. During that process, Nicole's function was to evaluate the chemical reactors on the machine. Nicole had amazing knowledge with chemistry, much like Karma's mechanical inclination.

But during this test, there were no chemicals to look after, so Nicole was the odd man out with no task assigned. So she'd have to be the guinea pig.

"We're all friends here, so you're not afraid of being undressed are you?" Karma asked with a sparkle.

"If I am, I'll have to have get unafraid real quick," Nicole bent down to start taking off her boots. She understood that in the real empowering process, the subject would have to be totally nude, in order to minimize complication related to synthetic materials on the subject. But since this wasn't a real trial run, she would just have to strip down to her bra and panties in order to duplicate the experience of the real subject, when the time came.

She slipped off her pants, and laid them carefully on the bench with her boots and socks. Kedrick tried not to stare. Honestly, he made his best effort. That poor bastard. He imagined the two of them were conspiring against him to see how much he could take without bursting.

Finally Nicole took off her shirt, and laid it on top of the pile of clothes. She walked over to the metallic, cold table, and motioned to Karma to get her ready.

"OK, hop up there and put your feet on these" Karma bent down to motion exactly where Nicole was supposed to lay.

Nicole let out a squeal.

"That's cold!"

"Yes I know" Karma admitted, "I need to add some sort of heating element so it's body temperature when the subject gets on"

Once Nicole stood upright on the table, Karma hurried over to the control panel to set the table to lay flat. The hydraulics immediately responded, gently lowering the table and Nicole to a horizontal position. Then she finished strapping in her friend at the ankles, thighs, stomach, elbow, and wrists.

Nicole had never felt so exposed in her life. She was just in bra and panties, and stretched taut on a machine that she didn't really know much about; just the chemical components she built for it. And her best friend Kedrick was just a few feet away. She knew he was staring at her, and somehow, this whole situation was quite arousing. But that arousal left quickly, as Karma put on the head harness onto Nicole.

"This harness," Karma explained, "is the most critical component of what we do here. The head cannot move at all during the process, as the machine's calibrations are very exact, and any movement can throw off the lasers, possibly inducing brain damage. So we need to test to see how it functions. Without the lasers today, of course"

The harness was strapped tightly onto Nicole's skull, and then fashioned tightly to the table itself. Karma wasn't kidding, Nicole couldn't move her head even a millimeter.

"I think we're set. Kedrick, can you monitor the life systems while I check out the machine itself?"

"Sure thing." Kedrick was the man at the helm, for the moment. The control panel was just six feet from the Nicole's feet on the table, and he had the best seat in the house. Although this stage of testing was supposed to be quite boring, Kedrick couldn't find too many other things to be doing at this point. Nicole, the girl of his dreams whom he'd been having fantasies about for months now, was tied near naked onto a table, and his job was to check out every inch of her helpless frame to ensure nothing went awry.

Karma flicked on a series of switches, and the machine leapt to life with a low hum and series of purrs. Nicole sighed with relief, as the machine's modest heat finally brought some warmth to her stretched body.

"Vitals look good," Kedrick announced, "She's holding up fine."

"Heart, brain, systems complete?" Karma shouted, "Controlling and alpha wave reads online?"

"Check on both" Kedrick said, almost stunned. The machine worked. Almost too well. All systems were completely functional, when Karma initially projected it would take about four hours to calibrate everything properly.

Nicole stared at the ceiling. Mostly because there was nothing else she could do. It felt like she was in a bondage tanning bed. Karma's heels clicked quickly on the floor as she joined Kedrick at the control panel. The two embraced, so excited that the machine worked so well in the beginning. Although Kedrick was infatuated with Nicole, he was quickly finding himself being drawn to Karma, as well. Her hair smelled so...

"This is unexpected. But I won't complain!" Karma sounded giddy as a schoolgirl. "Everything works great. But there's one part of the machine that has to be tested to its limits."

Karma began to whisper in Kedrick's ear. Nicole started to get nervous, as she couldn't see what they were doing, or talking about.

"Hey! No secrets in this room you two! What are you up to?"

Karma casually strolled over to Nicole, and smiled.

Nicole saw something in her eyes, that scared her a little bit. There was a strong sense of sadism that mingled in with the friendly glimmer in her eyes. Something was going to happen that hadn't been planned, and Karma was obviously delighting in that knowledge.

"Don't worry, Nicole. This is all part of the testing."

Nicole squealed as she felt something drip down her toes, and down her feet. It felt like oil, but that might have been because given the circumstances, she had expected there to be an oil leak from somewhere she couldn't see.

"Oh my God, what is that? Did the machine leak anything?" Nicole started to panic, as she didn't think her life would be danger during this phase.

"No dear," Karma calmly said "It's just something we're trying. It's a heavy chocolate sauce."

Nicole stared at her friend, confused but willing to do what it takes to ensure their project worked. A question started to form on her lips, but then something else happened.

Then Nicole started screaming. Her initial reaction was disbelief and shock. Kedrick had started licking the sauce off her toes with great eagerness.

Nicole's feet were sensitive anyway, and the helplessness of her situation didn't help matters. It only enhanced the feeling, because she knew she couldn't stop it.

"P-please no, stop!" Nicole continued to scream, but now those screams had melted into peals of laughter. Kedrick didn't stop, and she was going mad.

"You see, Nicole," Karma calmly started, "the machine is a success so far. But the biggest risk is whether or not the subject can move their head during the process. So we need a 'stress test' right now in order to monitor how much you can move, and where your vitals are. Because the process can be uncomfortable sometimes, we need to ensure the subject's safety at all times."

When she heard this, Nicole relaxed as best she could. Her feet were wriggling around as Kedrick's tongue found every ticklish nook and cranny she could have had. She wanted to shake her head, but the hardness held her tight. All she could do was laugh. She noticed Kedrick's stares in the past. She knew he stared at her feet in class constantly, and knew there had to have been something about them he liked. Every time they had a planning meeting for this machine, she would spend hours the night before perfecting the look of her feet and toes, just for him. She didn't understand the fascination, only knew it was there, and wanted to give her friend pleasure without making him feel weird about it.

So Nicole gave in and laugh as much as she could. The tickling was intense, and her midsection felt a little sore at laughing like a maniac for just a minute or two. But as intense as it was, she was careful not to kick Kedrick back, or make any noises or screams that would force him to stop.

Because she liked it. In fact, she'd had this feeling before.

Nicole panicked. There was something else Karma and Kedrick didn't know. They couldn't have known. Nicole's feet were extremely ticklish, but there was something else. A feeling deep down, welling up inside of her that she couldn't control. All this attention on her near naked body was arousing her, and she didn't know if she couldn't keep those sexual feelings at bay for much longer. It was embarrassing, because they were all supposed to be professional in the creation of this machine, and during all stages. But then Karma decided to do this stress test, then all these feelings Nicole had for Kedrick all this time just kind of came out.

The toe licking was maddening. Kedrick's tongue was all over their feet, and she couldn't do anything to stop his assault on her senses.

The wrist straps buckled, but never gave from their purpose. Nicole tried to twist, tried to escape, but she was helpless with laughter. Then suddenly, for just a split second, the laughter stopped. Nicole closed her eyes, as the sexual energy could not be contained any longer. She tried to thrust her hips instinctually, but the ties made this impossible. Kedrick was oblivious, and continued to enjoy his task.

But Karma, with a keen and objective eye on both the vital signs and her friend, could not be fooled. She was at the monitoring station, and knew exactly what these spikes were. She knew her friend was ticklish, she knew Nicole was going crazy enough to try and twist out of the table as much as she could. What she didn't know, but was finding out, is that Nicole started to have an orgasm after having her toes licked for about 3 minutes.

Interesting, Karma thought. She didn't share this information with Kedrick. She knew Nicole's ticklishness would be off the charts after she climaxed, and the running of the machine was the only thing on Karma's mind at this point. Karma looked down at Kedrick, and realized he was still oblivious to what was going on.

Nicole's heart raced, her mind exploded as the wave of pleasure took control. Then it stopped, and the toe licking became even more unbearable than before. Nicole had never been tickled after experiencing climax before, and her senses were heightened beyond anything she had felt before.

Laughter tried to escape from her mouth, but nothing but silent hysteria was in the works. She was elated, giddy, embarrassed, yet empowered, all at the same time.

But for now, all she could do was laugh. Laughter rang out in thundering echoes in the room as the tortured screams of laughter filled every corner. Nicole was close to climaxing a second time, and didn't think she could stand much more of this. There were just too many sensations. She could tell that Kedrick had all these pent up emotions towards her, and was enjoying his duty more than he would ever let on to others. And realizing this turned Nicole on even further. She soon craved the licking sensation, and wished Karma would leave the two of them alone so she could beg and squirm in private, and let Kedrick know how she felt.

But Karma was in no mood to be charitable, and offered Nicole no such relief. "OK, Kedrick, I think that will do. Very nicely done, by the way. From these studies, I have concluded there's no reasonable way the subject on the machine will be able to move from the head brace, once it's locked. This machine has passed phase one. Now Nicole and I can focus on the chemical and mechanical portions of it so we can complete phase two by next Thursday."

Karma began to unhook the straps that held Nicole. "So get dressed, kiddo, we have work to do tonight. And Kedrick," Karma smiles at her friend "better wipe your face off, you have syrup all over you."

Kedrick looked a bit sheepish, then quietly turned to the washroom to clean his face off. He had just fulfilled a fantasy of his, and felt weird about it now, since Nicole hadn't exactly consented to Karma's plan. As Nicole put her clothing back on, she watched him leave out of the corner of her eye.

"Look, Nicole," Karma started, "I'm really sorry about ambushing you like that. But you understand that we had to do the stress test in order to ensure Katie's safety next month. Our deadline's coming up, and I want to make sure this baby is 100% safe."

But Karma's apology fell on deaf ears. Without even acknowledging her friend, Nicole started walking to the washroom, where she knew Kedrick was cleaning up. She entered the room, and saw him toweling his face off. Upon drying, he stared at her in surprise. "I'll be done in a mmmm---"

His sentence was never finished. Nicole walked quickly up to him, and planted a kiss right on his lips. He quickly reciprocated, and the two embraced convincingly for what might have seemed like hours to anyone not participating . They only paused for a few seconds so Nicole could whisper "We're going to be working on the machine until 10 tonight. I want you at my apartment at 10:15. Sharp. And bring the sauce..."

He held her even tighter.

*****

9:10pm

Karma continued monitoring the heat levels of the machine, while Nicole worked beside her, perfecting the catalyst that would drive the entire process for this machine. Nicole hummed to herself while running her tests. Karma knew exactly why she seemed so happy.

This project, Karma thought, was much too important to be tested on their friend Katie. I need to get together a couple of my friends from the underground to help me set it up. Then I shall test it on myself to ensure its success. And then, she mused, I'll need to find my baby sister Lindsay. She couldn't be older than fifteen by now, and It is time the two of us became re-acquainted. Only I can help her.

To Be Continued...

[author's note: This supplemental story is part one of a three part story that begins to explain some of the fallout that happened between Karma and the agency three years before the events of issue seven take place, and to give more of a background to issue eight, as well. By the time issue seven takes place, Karma is 24, Nicole 22, and Mirth 18. Kedrick and Nicole (Starlight) are still together at the time issue seven takes place, and issue six delves into a story that's just the two of them in a more detailed manner.]