#subroutine

“You’re not going to beat us, Amia,” Lori said. Her newfound sense of hope gave her the strength to pull her gaze off of her roommate and look her adversary dead in her eyes.

“Oh?” Amia replied nonchalantly. She seemed entirely unconcerned. “And why’s that?”

“Because I’m not the one who wants to be a drone.” Lori smiled. “You are.”

“What?” Amia laughed derisively, but Lori thought she could detect a slightly nervous edge to Amia’s laughter. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” Lori drew herself up to her full height, her confidence slowly rising. “You sure seem to know something about how good it feels to be a drone, Amia. It’s a little suspicious.”

“That’s…” Amia looked like she’d momentarily short-circuited. It was obvious Lori’s questioning had taken her completely off-guard. “It’s programmed to feel good, duh! I made Elbourne make it that way. That’s how I know.”

“No. No, that’s not it.” Lori shook her head. It was dawning on her more and more with each passing moment, the pieces all coming together in her head. The genuine shock in Amia’s eyes was all the confirmation she needed. “You didn’t just know it felt good. You were waxing lyrical about it. Got any fantasies you want to share?”

“No.” Amia glared viciously at Lori, her bloodshot eyes full of rage. “None of this matters! This doesn’t change anything. You’re mine! You’re both craving it. You both need it. You both-”

“I think it does matter.” Lori’s newfound clarity gave her the strength to interrupt Amia, easily cutting through the mind-controller’s ranting. She could tell that Harper was now a little more lucid, Lori’s words giving her roommate something to hold on to. Lori didn’t want to risk Harper falling back under Amia’s spell. “C’mon, Amia. Are you really trying to tell me you haven’t fantasized about it? What was it you were just saying… ‘all it takes is one moment of submission’. Have you felt that moment? Are you craving it?”

“Shut up!” Amia shrieked.

“You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it,” Lori pressed. “Not after the way you were talking about it. You’ve thought about it a lot. Haven’t you?”

“It’s not… it’s…” Amia suddenly looked mortified, ashamed that anything but a hard denial had passed her lips. Lori, conversely, felt energized. Seeing Amia crack right before her eyes was filling her with giddy euphoria. Far from feeling weak and disoriented, as she had done mere minutes before, she was feeling as strong as she ever had. She wondered if the adrenaline rush that was now hitting her was the same feeling that Amia, and even Harper, had felt before. Clearly, they had let it go to their heads, albeit to different extents. Lori needed to avoid making that same mistake. She didn’t feel too worried, though. She was in control.

“It’s what, Amia?” Lori demanded confidently. “We both know what it is. So why don’t you just admit it? What are you afraid of?”

Amia’s unnerved expression twisted into a nasty grimace. “You better shut your mouth, before I decide to set my drones on you, risky or not.”

A little of Lori’s confidence ebbed away as she surveyed the room around her, and once again became conscious of the four brainwashed, latex-clad drones that were still standing at attention, ready to spring on her the moment they received the command. She needed to remember that she was still in danger, Lori thought to herself, or else overconfidence was sure to be her undoing.

“I’m just saying,” Lori continued, adopting a slightly gentler tone. “Why not? It’ll be pleasurable, and you won’t have a care in the world. You said so yourself.”

“What is this?” Amia snarled, unwilling to be drawn in. “You’re playing some kind of trick, aren’t you?”

Lori spread her arms wide, the picture of openness. “I’m just asking questions.”

Amia paused, eyeing Lori suspiciously as she considered her next words. Lori had to suppress a smile. It was transparently obvious what Amia was thinking. She was weighing whether or not she had something to prove, and whether refusing to play along would show weakness. If she was smart, she would ignore Lori’s taunts, of course. But Lori had a feeling Amia wouldn’t be able to resist.

“I’m not like you,” Amia snarled, after a moment’s thought. “I’m in control. I’ve always been in control. I’ve been toying with you for weeks, and you didn’t even know it. In fact, you enjoyed every single second of it. That’s what you are. You’re weak. Submissive. I’m dominant. Powerful. I take pleasure in doing whatever I want with people like you. I’m in control.”

Lori shivered. Despite everything, she was struggling to completely shrug off the kind of dominance Amia was projecting. Lori knew all too well how pleasurable it was to slip into submission. She’d experienced it far too much to ever forget. Even now, it would have been a lie to pretend to herself that she didn’t still feel that temptation. It would be so easy. But she had to keep fighting. It wasn’t about her or her pleasure anymore. It was about saving Harper and her friends.

“But,” Lori countered, placing a fingertip on her chin and affecting a mocking, confused look. “You said yourself that dominance and submission are just two sides of the same coin. Those are your words, Amia. Not mine. Yours. Whatever pleasure you get from being in control, you can get just as much pleasure submitting. Right? Isn’t that what you were saying to Harper?”

“That… that wasn’t about me!” Amia cried, frustrated.

“How do you know?” Lori shot back. “Have you ever thought about it? Have you ever tried it? You must have been tempted, right? Maybe just once? I’m sure that at least one time, when you had Elbourne here, or someone else, and you had them starting at one of those spirals, you must have been tempted to look too. Who wouldn’t be? You must have wondered how it would feel. How good it would feel. Who wouldn’t? It was just curiosity, of course. At least at first. But then, it became something more than that, right?” Amia looked almost spellbound as Lori wove her tale. “You started fantasizing about it. One of those secret, shameful fantasies. It would be thrilling, wouldn’t it? To lose it all. To experience everything being so completely turned on its head. You, the submissive drone. Someone else, the dominant administrator. It was exciting. Maybe it even went beyond fantasies. Maybe, just once, you did look. Maybe that’s why you know how good it feels to submit. Maybe that’s all you can think about.”

The look on Amia’s face was all Lori needed to be sure she’d hit the mark. Her expression was one of utter shock, but it was tinged with something else too. Amia’s cheeks had become flushed, her brow was slick with sweat, and she was breathing unusually hard. She was obviously aroused. Ashamed, yes, but aroused too. Now, Lori couldn’t suppress a grin. She’d known she was on the right track.

“I… I…” Amia stammered. “I-I never did that.”

Lori picked up on her inflection right away. “Right. You never looked. But you wanted to. You fantasized about it.”

Amia looked like she was about to explode, although Lori wasn’t sure if it was anger, shame or arousal that most showed through in her face. She was so flustered she forgot to deny what Lori was suggesting. “T-that doesn’t mean anything!”

“I think it does,” Lori declared, in a sing-song voice. “It means I’m right - about everything. You know exactly what I’m talking about. You know exactly the kind of pleasure I’m talking about. The pleasure of submission. You’re thinking about it right now, aren’t you? You want it. You’re craving it.”

“Shut up!” Amia repeated, her voice weaker and less assured than ever. “That’s not me! That’s… that’s you! You’re twisting everything around, you bitch!”

“Oh yeah?” Lori stared Amia dead in her eyes, daring her. “Prove it.”

Heaving and breathing hard, Amia just stared back for several long seconds, seemingly dumbfounded. Lori waited, motionless. She didn’t want to give Amia too much time to gather her thoughts, but she didn’t want to press her so hard she snapped either. She needed to walk a fine line. Hopefully, Amia would walk right into the trap she was setting. Her grin faded as the silence wore on, but a thin smile returned to her face once Amia drew herself up, ran a hand through her now-messy hair to re-arrange it slightly, and stepped forwards confrontationally.

“You’re going to submit to me,” Amia declared, her furious eyes boring holes in Lori’s head. “Right now. Because you are weak. Because you’ve already submitted. Dozens, maybe hundreds of times. You think you’re free? You’re just a broken drone. You know it’s all still in your head. All that programming and brainwashing. You know you’ll cave once I make you submit. And you know you’ll love it.”

“Yeah,” Lori moaned. She swayed on her feet as the impact of Amia’s words hit her. She didn’t try to fight it. It was so vivid, the impression of pleasure most of all. She knew how good it would feel to break. “It’s incredible. There’s nothing like it. It feels so good.”

Lori watched for Amia’s reaction carefully. She was braced for Amia to narrow her eyes in suspicion, signaling that it was probably over. But instead, Amia’s eyes widened maniacally as she sneered in triumph, her supreme confidence already almost fully restored.

“Yes!” Amia cried, energized. “No other pleasure even comes close. Nothing does. Not your freedom. Not your individuality. Not your control. Nothing. You’ll throw everything away for it, won’t you?”

“Can’t help it,” Lori murmured, moaning again. She wasn’t faking it. She didn’t need to. All the urges Amia was appealing to were still strong in her mind. She wasn’t struggling to deceive Amia so much as she was struggling to keep hold on her own mind. The temptation to submit for real was crushing. “It’s irresistible.”

“Lori?” Harper hissed in an urgent whisper. “Lori, no! Come on, you can fight this!”

“I’m sorry, Harper.” Lori turned to face her roommate slowly, but then once Amia couldn’t see one side of her face, she winked at her knowingly. “I don’t think I can anymore. It’s too strong.”

At first, Harper looked confused and uncertain, but after a moment she returned Lori’s wink with a barely-nod. “I can’t believe you!” Harper cried, convincingly feigning shock. “After everything we’ve been through! After everything I tried to do for you!”

“She can’t help herself,” Amia jeered. “How could she? I’m offering her the ultimate pleasure. You know it too, Harper. You know how good it feels to submit. You know that kneeling before your betters, clad it latex, your mind empty of all thought, is the best feeling in the world. Obedience is pleasure.”

“Obedience is pleasure.” Lori shivered. Her body was covered in goosebumps. She wanted to touch herself so badly, but she knew she couldn’t. She knew if she gave in to that temptation, everything would soon spiral out of her already-loose control. She did her best to keep herself focused on her plan. “Y-you’re not going to stop, are you? Not with us. Not even just with this school.”

“That’s right!” Amia raised one hand in front of herself, and clenched it in a tight fist. “I have big plans. You have no idea. I’m not going to stop. I’ll never stop. With this technology, I can do anything!” Lori trembled at the look in the TA’s eyes. She was utterly power-mad. “Soon, everyone will kneel before me. Everyone! I’m going to show them all how good it feels to submit. Obedience is pleasure. No-one can resist that. No-one can fight the ultimate pleasure. No-one.”

“No-one.” Lori nodded. Then, she turned to the drones surrounding her, and smiled. “That’s right, isn’t it, Unit #0001?”

“What?” Amia froze, confused. Her ears pricked up, alert, as if she sensed something was afoot. She was right.

Unit #0001 turned to look at Lori, Professor Elbourne’s cold, expressionless face staring into hers. “Evaluating new data. Evaluating new behavior protocols.”

Lori bit her lip. This was it. The critical moment. Now, there was nothing to do but wait.

“New behavior protocols confirmed,” Unit #0001 announced, after a few moments. “This units only purpose is to pleasure Amia Grover. All units’ only purpose is to pleasure Amia Grover. Amia Grover’s pleasure is all that matters. Submission to hypnotic indoctrination is the ultimate pleasure. All units will proceed to subdue and indoctrinate Amia Grover.”

“Command accepted,” came the sombre echo from around the room.

“What?” Amia repeated, now even more dumbfounded. Even as the pack of drones spread throughout the room began to advance on her, she didn’t seem to register that it was really happening. “What’s going on? This is impossible. Why… why are you doing that?”

“Don’t you see?” Lori giggled. She didn’t want to fall into the same mistake as Amia, listening to herself talk instead of making sure she’d won, but she couldn’t resist crowing a little bit. “You brainwashed them all into thinking that your pleasure is the most important thing in the universe. And, just now, you told them that being brainwashed and submitting is the ultimate form of pleasure. Apparently, even drones are capable of putting two and two together.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Amia protested, but the drones kept advancing nonetheless. Amia glanced nervously between them, clearly on the verge of panic. “Stop!” she cried, but the only one that stopped was Unit #0001.

“Remember?” Lori put in gleefully, after allowing Amia to stew in her own confusion and panic for a few seconds. “They don’t take orders from you. Not directly.”

“Shit!” Amia spat, as she remembered the cautionary measures Professor Elbourne had taken. She had started backing away from the drones as they steadily closed in on her, but she was already backed into a corner. “Um, Profess… fuck, I mean, Unit #0001, tell-”

That was as far as she got. As soon as she started talking, Lori surged into motion. She sprinted as fast as she could, moving faster than she ever had in her life, and in no time at all she crossed the distance between herself and Amia. Amia was taken completely off-guard, and had no time at all to react or even cry out before Lori barreled into her, tackling her off her feet and, crucially, clamping a hand over her mouth.

“Mmph! Mmmmmmph!” was the only noise that came out of Amia’s muffled mouth, as she struggled furiously beneath Lori to try and free herself. It was no use, however, Lori had managed to pin both of Amia’s arms beneath her knees, and even though Amia was tossing and turning like crazy, Lori managed to keep a hand over her mouth.

“Sorry, Amia,” Lori panted, breathing hard from her exertion but grinning wildly. “This is it. You lose.”

Then, the drones were upon them. They descended around Lori and Amia, surrounding them. Lori couldn’t deny that it gave her a certain thrill to see their latex clad bodies all moving in concert to fulfill, not Amia’s plan, but hers. It was a rush, to know that she was in control of this, that even though she hadn’t given the drones any commands, they were doing exactly what she had wanted. Lori’s grin widened. She wasn’t going to go crazy with power like Amia, but after everything she’d been through, she figured there was nothing wrong with enjoying herself a little.

Amia’s muffled shrieks became even more high-pitched and desperate as the drones started to place their hands on her body, restraining her at her wrists and ankles to ensure that she would be unable to squirm free. Unit #0001 held back, still in frozen in place by Amia’s final command, but that didn’t matter. The three remaining drones - Lori’s friends, Sally, Madison and Jae - would be more than enough. Especially if Lori helped. For the moment, though, Lori focused on keeping Amia’s mouth covered as the drones beside her started to clinically and mechanically strip the would-be mind controller of her clothes. Lori scrambled out the way so she was no longer on top of Amia, eager to get out of the way. Working together, the drones managed to get Amia out of her tight-fitting jeans, and when the drone that had been Madison found that it couldn’t remove Amia’s crop top over her head, it instead simply ripped the flimsy top from her body. Amia’s panties and bra soon followed, until the squirming TA was left completely naked. Completely exposed. Completely vulnerable.

“How’s it feel, Amia?” Lori mocked. She couldn’t help it. She wanted to ride this thrill for as long as it lasted. Payback was sweet. “Now that you’re on the receiving end for once. Feel good? Does it live up to your fantasies?”

“Mm mmmph!” was the only reply Amia was capable of making.

“Let’s see.” Keeping one hand over her mouth, Lori stretched down and managed to slip a hand between Amia’s legs. Amia’s squirming became particularly frenzied for a moment, but with the drones holding her limbs, she was unable to escape. Lori retracted her hand after a moment. It came away wet. “Huh, look at that,” Lori continued. “I guess it does. Looks like you’re not such a dominant after all.”

Before she could do or say anything more, the drones proceeded with the next part of their plan. Sally was on Amia’s right-hand side, Madison was on her left, and Jae was at her feet. As one, as if responding to some unseen signal, they bent forwards and started pleasuring her with their mouths. Drone-Jae used its unrelenting, hypnotically-driven strength to pull Amia’s legs apart and quickly buried its face in her cunt. Even though it was brainwashed and emotionless, it devoted itself so completely to the task of eating out Amia’s pussy that it almost seemed to be in an impassioned frenzy. At the same moment, on each side, the other drones - Units #7137 and #7428 - starting to aggressively kiss and bite all across her exposed form, across her midriff and on her small, pert breasts. The instant over-stimulation drove Amia wild. She started thrashing like never before, and her muffled protests morphed into something that sounded suspiciously like moaning. Lori could feel herself becoming aroused too. Seeing Amia brought so low was unbelievably satisfying, and it was a delightful reversal to see Amia now falling prey to the drones she had created to serve her.

“Lori?” Harper called out, cautiously approaching the pile of latex-clad bodies surrounding Amia. “Are you…?”

“Don’t worry, I’m OK,” Lori panted. “I’m just, um, helping.”

She was embarrassed to admit she wanted the satisfaction of degrading Amia personally. Fortunately, Harper didn’t question it. She just nodded gratefully, and then slumped into a chair. Finally, she could rest. Lori, though, was only just getting started. She was no longer breathing hard from exertion, but from the heat filling her body. Between her own legs, her cock was growing hard, straining against the tight-fitting latex in a way that, she had to admit, felt incredible.

“Here’s what’s gonna happen,” Lori said, returning her attention to Amia. She couldn’t know for sure, but she had a sense of what the drones might be planning. “These drones you were so in control of are going to soften you up with pleasure, and make your mind nice and weak. Then, I’m gonna put that brainwashing device on your head and brainwash the fuck out of you. A little like what you tried - and failed -  to do to Harper. Except, this time, it isn’t a game. It’s just the end, for you.”

“Mmmp- mrrrr!” Amia’s muffled, inaudible protest was cut short by a load, full-throated moan as Jae started roughly tongue-fucking Amia’s wet, needy pussy and using a hand to tease her throbbing clit. The effort on Amia was incredible. It had her tossing her head from side to side so hard, Lori was struggling to keep a hand on her mouth. Not that she really needed to - there was no way Amia was still in a fit state to properly issue any kind of complex command. Lori supposed she shouldn’t have been so surprised. The drones had, after all, probably been programmed with Amia’s pleasure specifically in mind.

“Oh my god!” Lori laughed. “You really are enjoying this, aren’t you? That’s incredible. I wasn’t sure before, but clearly I was completely right about you. You’re the weak one, Amia. And you’re kind of a slut. Writhing around like that, on the floor, in front of me and Harper… wow.”

Amia was too lost to pleasure already to make any kind of retort, even a futile, muffled one. She was still squirming, but her movements were now weak and uncoordinated. Lori could tell she was already beginning to succumb. Amia had never once tried to resist any temptation placed in front of her, and now, the temptation to simply ride the wave of pleasure she was experiencing was getting the better of her. Lori cautiously removed her hand from the TA’s mouth, ready to clamp it back down at a moment’s notice if it looked like she was about to issue a command to any of the drones. But she didn’t - instead, all that came out were a series of long, loud moans. Lori giggled, her sense of triumph making her head feel bubbly and giddy. This was it. This was the end. She’d won. Amia wasn’t going to be able to threaten anyone anymore. She was nothing like the confident, sadistic mind-controller she had been just minutes before. She was flushed all over, and drenched with her own sweat. Her moans, no longer suppressed by Lori’s hand, were filling the dark laboratory. Amia had been reduced to a mewling, moaning fucktoy, helpless against the drones that were skillfully and mercilessly pleasuring every inch of her body. Their latex-covered hands were reaching all over her, up and down, and Lori could see as much black rubber as she could flushed, brown skin. It was a wonderful sight. Lori knew all too well how it felt, being massaged like that by those hands. The peculiar, smooth, shiny, alien touch of the latex was heavenly. It was making her needy just imagining it. She could feel a little of it, even now, from the latex bodysuit covering her own body. Almost unconsciously, Lori reached down and started to massage the throbbing bulge between her legs, moaning softly as she felt rubber sliding over rubber and warm pressure against her swollen cock.

“I think it’s time,” Lori announced, after several minutes spent spellbound, watching Amia’s resistance and willpower being methodically broken down by the pleasure the drone units were visiting upon her body. She figured that, by now, Amia would be utterly unable to resist falling into trance. Furthermore, she had to admit herself, she was uncomfortably eager to see Amia brainwashed. No-one responded to Lori’s declaration, so she simply stood up and went across the room to retrieve the brainwashing device from where it had been discarded. A brief inspection revealed that it was still working, but Lori was careful not to look too closely, especially not at the hypnotic lights still glowing and spinning within.

“So,” Lori said to Amia, as she knelt back down besides her head, holding the brainwashing helmet aloft above her. “Any last words?”

Amia moaned. That was all she was capable of.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Lori smirked, and slipped the device onto Amia’s head.

Because of the way the TA was writhing and twitching, it took her a little time to secure it in place properly, with the all-encompassing virtual reality screens fixed properly over her eyes, but once she managed it, the effect was instant. Amia shuddered, once, and then went still. She was still moving a little, responding to the way she was being touched, but much weaker than before. Her moans, too, became weaker, turning breathy and slow as her breathing started to slip into the hypnotic rhythm the brainwashing device was inducing. Lori studied her reaction carefully, not wanting to let Amia somehow escape at the last moment, but deep down she knew the fight was already over. Lori had experienced the potency of Professor Elbourne’s technology first-hand. Amia was doomed.

“How does that feel?” Lori asked, knowing there would be no response. “Feels good, doesn’t it? Nice and relaxing. Why don’t you just let yourself drift off? You know how good submission is going to feel. You were just telling me about it. So just submit, Amia. Obedience is pleasure.”

As if sensing Lori’s words, Amia groaned softly, and made a feeble effort to lift one hand. The sluggishness of her movements only made it more obvious how quickly she was succumbing to the hypnosis.

“Shhh, it’s OK,” Lori continued, her voice taking on a poisoned, soothing tone. “Just look. That’s all you have to do. Look into the spiral. Can you see it? Can you see how deep it goes? So deep. Just like you. Can you see the numbers yet? They’re all around you.”

Lori could feel Amia responding to her words, her body becoming heavier and slower as she helplessly following Lori’s suggestions. In the hypnotic glare of the brainwashing device’s spiral, independent thought was all but impossible. The entranced TA was barely responding to the drone’s ministrations anymore, but Lori knew the pleasure flooding her mind was still helping to keep her weak and compliant.

“You’ve been dominant for so long,” Lori whispered. She lowered her face so her lips were right by Amia’s ear. “Now it’s time to let go of that. Time to rest. You’re going to enjoy it. Just obey. That’s all you need to do now. Obey and submit. Obedience is pleasure. Obedience is inevitable.”

“I… no… o-obedience…” Amia babbled faintly from within the brainwashing helmet. Beneath the visor, Lori could see the tight expression on her face slowly relaxing into a dreamy smile. A little drool had escaped her mouth, forming a trail down to her chin. It only made her look all the more pathetic.

“Say it,” Lori urged. “You know you want to. You know you can feel it on your lips. Say it. Obedience is pleasure.”

“Obe… Obedie…” Amia was shaking her head, but the words were still coming, being drawn from her by the hypnotic spell she was gradually submitting to.

“Come on. You know how good it’s gonna feel.” Lori reached down and, with one latex-clad hand, started massaging one of Amia’s tits. She felt Amia’s back arch ever so slightly, her body greedy for even more please. “Say it, and you can cum. Let go of everything, and let that release wash everything away. You know you want to. Obedience is pleasure.”

“Obedience… is… pleasure!” Amia screamed. She shuddered again, once, and then fell completely limp. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she panted, but besides that, she wasn’t moving at all. Lori could scarcely imagine the kind of mind-shattering orgasm she must have had. Suddenly, she realized all the drones had stopped pleasuring her, and had returned to simply kneeling positions. That could only mean one thing.

“Amia?” Lori ventured. She was still rubbing herself as she spoke. Amia might have found release, but Lori was still feeling incredibly sensitive. “Can you hear me?”

“Yes.” Amia replied. That one word was enough to make Lori moan. Amia’s voice was completely transformed. It was no longer arrogant and cruel, or breathless and needy. Instead, it was cold, emotionless, and utterly empty. There could be no doubt. Amia was hypnotized.

“Will…” Lori’s mouth was dry all of a sudden. “Will you do what I tell you?”

In the same slow, trancey, emotionless voice, Amia replied: “I obey.”

“Oh my god,” Harper stood up again. “Oh my god. You did it. You actually did it.”

Lori smiled back at her. “We did it.” She rose to her feet too, and crossed the room to Harper’s side. After sharing another, slightly awkward smile, the two of them embraced. Lori hugged Harper as tight as she could. It felt so comforting, to be able to bury herself into another, familiar person like that. It was something she hadn’t realized she’d needed. Now that the danger had passed, she could finally enjoy it.

“Lori, we should-” Harper began, after pulling back.

Lori kissed her. She didn’t know why. It just felt right. Harper seemed shocked, at first, but soon lent into the kiss, returning it with just as much passion. Lori’s heart felt like it was bursting with emotion. This was the last thing she’d expected - any of it. But somehow, it was exactly what she’d wanted. When they finally broke off the kiss, Harper reached out to stroke her cheek with one of her hands. Lori could have swooned.

“Um…” Lori broke out in a cold sweat. She suddenly felt the need to explain herself. “Um…”

“Hey,” Harper said, pointing down at the bulge formed by Lori’s cock, still clearly visible in the front of her bodysuit. “You need some help with that?”

“What?” Lori replied, stunned. Then, the both of them collapsed into helpless giggling. It took almost a full minute for either of them to recover.

“I guess there’ll be time for that later, huh?” Harper said, wiping mirthful tears from her eyes. “Now this nightmare is all over.”

“Yeah,” Lori agreed, smiling from ear to ear. “We don’t need to worry about anything anymore. This is the end. We can finally set things right.”

“Well…” Harper looked pointedly over at the cluster of drones, huddled on the floor around Amia. “You say that, but… what are we gonna do, exactly?”

Lori thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Let’s figure that out later,” she replied, and kissed Harper once more.

THE END

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Professor Elbourne’s enslaved drones kept a close guard on Harper as they dragged her back to the professor’s laboratory, but they needn’t have. Harper didn’t try to escape again. She didn’t even consider it. She walked with slumped shoulders, lost in self-recrimination. Harper couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid. Escaping from the professor’s clutches once had been an incredible stroke of luck, but she’d wasted it. How could she have forgotten the way out? Harper was never going to able to forgive herself for that - if she remembered it, at least. And then, with Lori, she’d failed again. Harper had been so sure she was getting through to her, but in the end it hadn’t mattered. Harper knew there was no chance of her making another escape. The professor was far too careful to make another oversight like leaving the ropes loose. Her latex-clad drones were going to force her back into that chair, put that futuristic helmet on her, and then it would all be over. Her mind, her free will and her individuality would all be gone. Maybe what 7005 had said to her was right, Harper thought to herself. Maybe obedience was inevitable.

Harper, Professor Elbourne and the drones soon reached the laboratory. They walked in silence; Harper no longer had the strength to protest, and Professor Elbourne no longer seemed inclined to wax lyrical about her plans and theories. Once inside, 7005 and another drone escorted Harper to the chair she’d been tied to before, flanking her on either side. Harper looked down, still not speaking, although she noticed that Amia was still there, waiting disinterestedly in the corner.

“Tie her up again,” Professor Elbourne commanded, scowling. “Properly, this time.”

“Command accepted,” murmured the assembled drones, their robotic, empty voices forming an unnerving chorus. A couple of the drones - Harper could barely keep track of which was which, except for Lori, who wasn’t wearing a mask - moved to obey. They tied Harper up once more, but this time they used several lengths of rope, not only tying her wrists together behind her back but also binding each of her ankles to one of the chair legs, ensuring that she had absolutely no chance of escape. Harper didn’t resist. What was the point?

“Hey, professor,” Amia called out, her lips curled into an amused smirk. The short, chubby girl was sitting just where she had been - in the far corner of the room. “Have fun playing cat and mouse?”

“Silence!” Professor Elbourne hissed.She sounded furious. “If you’re not going to help, Miss Grover, the least you can do is keep your mouth shut and your tongue still, for once.”

Amia just giggled in response, causing the professor’s face to adopt an even more severe scowl.

“Let’s be done with this,” Professor Elbourne commanded, ignoring her assistant. “I’m tired of all this foolishness. My time is too important to be wasted this way. 7005, prepare the experimental device.”

“Command accepted.” Harper shivered at 7005’s voice - at Lori’s voice - now so robotic and inhuman. She had thought Lori’s true self was breaking through, when they’d confronted one another after her escape, but now it seemed to be completely gone. Swiftly and deftly, as if it had been doing it for years, the drone picked up the professor’s brainwashing helmet and started adjusting it, making sure all the wires were in place. Then, it started typing at the computer the device was connected to. Harper couldn’t see exactly what it was doing, but she presumed it was preparing the brainwashing program that she was about to be subjected to. After just a few moments, the drone paused, and Professor Elbourne seemed to take this as an indication that the drone had completed its assigned task.

“Good. Now hand the device to me,” Professor Elbourne ordered. “7137, 7428, be ready to restrain the girl if need be. There will be no second escape.”

“Command accepted,” the drones intoned, their emotionless voices echoing one another. Soon, Harper thought, her voice would be just like theirs.

Two of the other drones moved to stand at Harper’s side, one at each shoulder, whilst Lori stepped forward and presented the ominous-looking brainwashing device to Professor Elbourne. She took it. Harper could already see a strange, shifting, dazzling glow emerging from inside. She trembling, knowing what it heralded. The spiral. The numbers. The impossible, irresistible vortex of mindlessness. Just thinking about it made Harper light-headed.

“You found the truth, Miss Williams,” Professor Elbourne told her, raising the brainwashing device to place it on Harper’s head. “I hope you’re happy. I have to admit, I’m a little impressed by your determination. But I’m afraid this is goodbye. You’re not going to remember any of this. You won’t be unhappy, I can promise you that. You’ll wake up in your bed, as if none of this had ever happened, and you’ll be able to go about your life as usual - except, of course, when I have need of your obedience.”

Harper closed her eyes - not to resist, but simply to take a moment to gather her thoughts and enjoy the last few moments of her free will. She knew she should be horrified at the thought of losing it, but she wasn’t sure she was. After everything she’d been through, forgetting it all and not having to think so much felt peaceful. Blissful. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. She’d have her normal life again, mostly, and so would Lori. Harper didn’t know what Lori would think of her. Before they had discovered Lori had been turned into a drone, they’d mostly been distant - not awkward or uncomfortable, but not friendly either. In a way, despite all the awful things that had happened, Harper felt closer to Lori than ever before. She cared about her roommate. She wanted her to be safe. She wanted her to be free. Clearly, that wasn’t going to happen. But perhaps a little of their closeness would remain. Harper tried to hold on to that nice thought as she sensed Professor Elbourne loom over her, and as she waited for the end.

“Wait!”

Harper peeked one eye open at the unexpected cry. To her shock, it came from the back of the room. From Amia. For the first time, Professor Elbourne’s assistant actually looked engaged in what was going on. Or perhaps more than simply engaged. The bored, bemused smirk on Amia’s face was gone, replaced by a far more sinister expression. It was mischievous, haughty, and full of malice.

Professor Elbourne looked like she was about to pop a vein in her forehead. “What is it?” she demanded, pivoting towards her TA. “What could possibly justify this interruption?”

Amia didn’t answer straight away. Instead, she rose from her chair and sauntered to where the professor was standing, her loose, dark, curly bob haircut bouncing as she moved. It was obvious from her body language that she was taking her time, and enjoying the way Professor Elbourne was quivering with rage. “It’s simple,” she said, when she had finally reached the professor. “This is too boring.”

“Too… boring?” Now Professor Elbourne looked like she was about to completely explode.

“Yep.” Amia planted one hand of her hip, and inspected her manicured fingernails on the other. “It’s too easy, don’t you think? Put that helmet on, and it’s all over. There’s no drama. No spice. No fun. No, I think we need to do something much more interesting. Something with tension. With stakes. Some kind of game.”

“A game?” Professor Elbourne repeated dumbly. She was so angry she was struggling to muster the words to express it. “Miss Grover, I must say… I just… I expect better of you! Our work - my work - is no game. It is of the utmost seriousness, and I cannot-”

“I dunno,” Amia interrupted. “When you and those drones were chasing Harper around, that kind of seemed like a cat and mouse game to me. That was fun. You can’t tell me it didn’t have your heart racing a little bit. Not really my style though. Too much running around. I’m thinking something… spicier.”

Harper just sat watching and listening, utterly bewildered by the interaction playing out in front of her.

“Absolutely not!” Professor Elbourne pronounced. “I can’t believe you would even suggest such a thing. Miss Grover, after your behavior tonight I am certainly going to reassess your suitability as my assistant. This is simply unacceptable!”

Amia sighed. “Yeah, OK. That’s pretty much what I expected. Fine, we’ll do it the hard way.”

“The hard way?” Professor Elbourne asked, frustrated. “What the hell do you-”

“Beta-0001.”

The moment Amia spoke the trigger, Professor Elbourne froze. Harper’s eyes went wide as she saw an all-too-familiar blank, slack expression pass over Professor Elbourne’s face. Her eyes became hollow and empty, and her arms fell limp by her side with the brainwashing helmet dangling from her grip. The way she looked so vacant and brainwashed was all the more shocking on someone who had seemed so confident and in-control. Harper stared wordlessly at Amia and Professor Elbourne, totally failing to comprehend what had just happened. Amia giggled at her reaction, the girl’s laughter echoing around a room that was now occupied only with drones, except for herself and Harper.

“Surprise!” Amia mocked. “Now that’s the kind of reaction I was expecting. You really didn’t have a clue, huh? No more than the professor here, that’s for sure.” Amia roughly prodded the slack-jawed, dronified professor. “Well, I suppose that is the point of all this.”

“The point of…” Harper whispered, utterly baffled. After everything that had happened that day, this latest revelation was completely frying her brain. She’d finally thought she understood what was going on, but now she felt even more clueless than before. “What the fuck is going on?”

Amia giggled. “Come on, don’t tell me you actually believed the professor’s ridiculous rambling about world domination? Please. That’s just a bunch of nonsense I fed to her. She believes it completely, of course. Has no idea she’s just a puppet on strings.” The young assistant reached a hand over the professor’s head and mimed puppeting her.

“But… how?” Harper asked, her wide eyes still uncomprehending.

“Some of what she said was true,” Amia explained, swanning aimlessly around the laboratory as she did so, relishing in her dominance. “She really was researching all this weird stuff, and I really am her assistant. To tell you the truth, she was a real buzzkill as a boss. No sense of humor at all. But one day, I came into the lab, and what do you know? She’d perfected her own research.” Amia threw back her head and laughed cruelly, as if her story was the funniest thing in the world. “I found her staring at one of own spirals, hypnotized. Her mind was a blank slate for me write in. Pretty lucky, right? At first, I just covered my bases. Put in a few useful triggers and suggestions. See, I always put in more work than the professor gave me credit for when it came to researching stuff like that. The idea of controlling someone’s mind is just so delicious, don’t you think?” Amia licked her lips. Her voice had dropped to a breathless whisper of unmistakable lust.

“Oh my god,” Harper breathed. Chills were running down her spine. What Professor Elbourne had been planning was bad enough, but what Amia might have in store for them seemed like something even worse. The Professor’s coldness scared her much less than the malice and giddy amorality she could sense behind her new captor’s words.

“Everything else came later - the latex, the drone protocols, the code-words, the brainwashing techniques. It’s really hot, don’t you think?” Amia grinned, showing teeth. As she spoke, she walked back to where the brainwashed professor was still standing, motionless, and began groping her. Harper’s mouth hung open at the sight of Amia so casually feeling up Professor Elbourne’s breasts through her shirt, treating the brainwashed middle-aged woman as little more than an object. “Plus, it keeps things nice and simple. I command - or, well, she does - and you all obey like the good little drones you are. No free will, no free thought, no possibility of any of my playthings getting ideas above their station. It’s perfect. Or at least, it will be, once I’ve got all of campus under my control. And then… who knows?” Amia trailed off into giggles and little moans, her eyes shining manically as she momentarily lost herself to fantasies of control.

“Why do this to her?” Harper asked after a moment, indicating Professor Elbourne with her eyes. “I mean, why have her think she’s in charge? That doesn’t make any sense. You don’t need to pretend you’re just her TA anymore.”

“Two words,” Amia replied proudly, ceasing her groping. “Plausible deniability. Even if someone does figure out what’s going on, and they call the cops or whatever, they’ll all blame her. She’ll even blame herself. And I’ll be able to pretend to be a brainwashed victim just like all the rest of you.” Amia switched to a mock-crying tone for a few moments, before brightening again. “Genius, right?”

“It’s monstrous,” Harper whispered, stunned into shock. “You’re doing all this, enslaving people, brainwashing them, just… because you can? Because it gets you off? What’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t know, must be the same thing that’s wrong with you,” Amia retorted, leaning in uncomfortably close with a wicked, mirthful grin on her face. “Don’t forget, I know all about what you’ve been doing to your precious roommate.”

Harper gasped, and felt a hot blush of shame spread across her cheeks. She wanted to protest that it wasn’t her fault, that it had been part of the experiment, that she hadn’t been in control of her own mind, but she somehow knew all those excuses would ring hollow. After a moment of incoherent stuttering she looked down at the floor.

“Anyway,” Amia continued, bouncing back upright. “Now I just need to figure out what I’m gonna do with you. I think I’ve got the perfect little game. I’m going to love it.”

“What game?” Harper asked through gritted teeth.

“I was thinking that just sticking that thing on your head and letting it turn your mind to mush would be way too boring,” Amia explained. “There’s no struggle, no sport. Where’s the fun in that? So I was thinking, since this is the first time I’ve had such a captive subject, I would just love to see if we can find a slightly different way of breaking your brain. Pleasure. So, I was thinking. I’m gonna put this brainwashing device on a nice, low setting - enough to make you nice and soft without totally wiping you - and then I’m gonna see if all those drones can push you over the edge. And you… well, you just try and hold out as long as you can.”

Harper swallowed nervously. “How do I win?”

With a particularly nasty grin on her face, Amia replied: “You don’t.”

Harper shuddered. She was just as doomed as before, but now she faced the prospect of torture and humiliation rather than the simple bliss of instant mindlessness. She couldn’t escape, she was certain of that. Between the ropes and the drone guards, she had no chance. What could she do, besides succumb quickly? Harper was forced to watch helplessly as Amia took the brainwashing device to the computer it was connected to and spend a few moments tinkering with it. Once she was finished, she turned back to Harper.

“Why don’t you tell me how this feels?” Amia giggled. “That is, if you still can.”

Before Harper could brace herself, the TA slipped the brainwashing helmet over Harper’s head. Immediately, the room around her was gone, replaced by a series of screens that seamlessly replaced her vision. The screens were already alive, and as Amia tightened the helmet around her neck and fastened it into position, the images on them converged to form exactly the thing she had been dreading: a spiral. The uncomfortably familiar wave of dizziness and emptiness she’d been expecting hit her almost instantly, but it felt a little different than it had done in the past. It was muted, dimmer. It wasn’t spinning as quickly or flickering as intensely as it had done before. Even so, the hypnotic effect was strong enough to send Harper reeling, especially since it was all around her now, consuming her entire field of vision. She could herself squirming against the ropes, fighting to turn away even though she knew it was impossible. She could scarcely imagine how overwhelming the brainwashing would have been if Amia hadn’t adjusted it. However, with its effectiveness diminished, she was able to rally her thoughts a little better than usual.

“Now, let’s get started for real,” Harper heard Amia say, her voice now strangely muffled and distant-sounding. “Drones- oh, wait. Unit #001, command these other drones to pleasure Harper.”

“Command accepted,” the brainwashed Professor Elbourne replied, her robotic voice sending fresh chills down Harper’s spine. “All units, pleasure Harper.”

Harper heard murmurs of “Command accepted,” from all around her, and then movement as the drones began to converge around her.

“The professor wanted to make sure you couldn’t use any override commands,” Amia explained, as if sensing Harper’s confusion. “So she made sure the drones would only respond to her commands. I didn’t want to stop her. Got to keep her believing she’s still running things. It’s a little annoying, but I can just get her to give the orders for me.”

Harper had no time to process that before she felt a touch on her thigh that made her shrink away and inhale sharply. Even though her clothes, Harper could tell it was a hand covered in latex. The unnatural smoothness of the rubber was unmistakable. It was quickly followed by another hand, and then another, and then another, on her other thigh, her chest, her arm. Everywhere. Harper soon lost track of how many hands were touching her. She realized she was surrounded by drones - Lori, Jae, Sally and Madison - and they were all dressed in lated and all touching her. Unable to see, each touch came as a surprise, which only heightened how they felt. From within the helmet, she was still being bombarded by the spiral that was all around her. It was constantly disorienting her, making it so she was completely unable to brace herself for whatever was to come. That became painfully obvious when she felt the drones around her starting to remove her clothes. Harper writhed as she felt hands she couldn’t see unbuckling her pants and reaching to pull off her shirt and lift the tank top she was wearing underneath. It wasn’t just that she was trying to resist. She was also trying to hide the fact that, as shameful as it was, her body was beginning to respond to being touched so intimately.

“S-s-stop,” Harper protested weakly. It was already hard for her to form words. The spiral was making her thoughts sluggish and slow, and each touch she felt from the drones surrounding her was like an electric shock that had her thoughts dissolving and flying apart even as she struggled to put them together. And it was only getting worse and worse, as the way the drones were touching her grew bolder and more intimate. She felt her pants being pulled down to her ankles, exposing her panties underneath. Her flannel shirt was opened as far as her tied-up position would allow, and her tank top was pulled up above the level of her breasts. Harper shivered at the sensation of the cool air on her skin. It drove home just how vulnerable she was.

“Oh yeah!” Amia jeered lustfully. “If you could just see yourself right now, Harper. This is gonna be a great show.”

“S-shut u- Ah!” Harper’s retort gave way to moaning as she felt another touch. It was only on her thigh, but it was blindingly intense. The latex on her bare skin made her gasp. It felt like her heart had stopped. The strange smoothness of the rubber was mesmerizing all on its own, taking Harper back to the many twisted memories of pain and pleasure she couldn’t help but associate with it. Hidden urges rose from the depths of her mind, already threatening to consume her. She wanted more. She wanted to feel that latex all over her. She wanted to be touched. She wanted to feel the bodysuit as a second skin, as sleek and perfect as the drones currently trying to break her. 7005’s words began to echo through her head. Obedience was inevitable. She thought she’d understood those words, but she hadn’t. Not until now that the brainwashing device on her head was pounding them into her brain. Now, obedience felt truly inevitable. It was like a leaden weight around her neck, dragging her sinking into an abyss of impossible relaxation. Staying afloat was taking everything she had. She already knew she was losing. Part of what was making it so hard was the way the hypnosis was draining her. Being turned on the way she could feel herself becoming would normally have had her heart pounding, but instead, it was slowed. Her breathing, except for the occasional gasp and moan, was unusually deep and even. Harper almost felt like she was on the verge of sleep. With both her mind and body so relaxed she could hardly use them, there was simply no way for her to fight.

As if from a great distance away, Harper heard Amia wolf-whistle. “Wow Harper,” the maniacal girl taunted. “You’re dropping easy. Cmon, where’s all the spirit you were showing earlier? Where’s the fire? Honestly, I’m disappointed.”

Despite the soporific waves of pleasure and hypnosis that were battering her mind, Harper’s hands balled into fists. Amia’s cruel taunts were lighting a fire in her, allowing her to banish her earlier despair. Maybe she was going to lose, Harper thought to herself grimly, but she wasn’t going to lose like this. She wasn’t going to go down easy. She wasn’t going to give Amia the satisfaction. Amia was a monster, and Harper longed for nothing more than the chance to wipe that vicious smirk off the girl’s face. And if she couldn’t do that, she could at least deny her the pleasure of victory for as long as possible.

“Oh yes, that’s it!” Amia simpered, sensing Harper’s fresh resolve. She was clearly in a frenzy of lust and excitement. “Show me a good fight. It just makes it so much hotter to see you fail.”

Harper just growled in response. Despite her newfound determination, there seemed to be nothing she could use to rally herself. No sight, no thought, no feeling. The experience of being sealed inside the brainwashing device was all-consuming. Pieces of her mind - her memories, her emotions, her free desires - were falling away from her, being drawn into the spiraling vortex that dominated her vision. Blinded by the device, all her other senses were heightened as they strained to determine what was going on around her. But that only worked against Harper, especially as the drones became more and more insistent in their attempts to pleasure her.

“Ah!” Harper moaned, the breathless exclamation of pleasure escaping from her lips before she could steel herself. A drone had just run a single finger down the front of her panties, teasing her uncomfortably needy pussy underneath. At the same time, other drones were simply stroking and planting kisses along her bare skin, on her legs, her stomach, her shoulders, her arms - everywhere. The way they were pampering her should have been easy to ignore, but to Harper’s oversensitive body and increasingly-brainwashed mind, each kiss and each touch was like fire. They set off sparks that raced across her skin, making her chest heave and her body grow warm and desperate. One drone, standing behind her, reached over her shoulders to pull her bra aside and began massaging her breasts. The feeling of latex-covered fingertips on her hard, swollen nipples had Harper moaning with each breath. It was already too much, and it had barely started. Harper tossed her head from side to side, but there was no escaping the pleasure or the spiral.

But, she quickly learned, this was still only the beginning. It wasn’t long before the drone between her legs was finished with simply teasing her over her panties. Harper gasped as she felt her underwear being removed, and let out a high-pitched, shamefully lewd whine as her pussy throbbed at being exposed to the open air. She had no time at all to gather herself before she felt the drone press its warm lips against her and start eating her out. Harper saw white. The pleasure that had been inflicted on her before was nothing compared to this. She let out moan after moan as the pleasure hit her in waves, making it feel like her whole body was simply melting away. She writhed helplessly, pulling against the ropes binding her with all the strength she had, but it was useless. The pleasurable torture she was being subjected to had made her as weak as a kitten. Her muscles were heavy and useless. Harper felt herself teetering on the brink, her mind already about to shatter. 7005’s words were echoing from everywhere. Obedience was inevitable. Obedience was inevitable. Obedience was inevitable.

“Come on, Harper,” Amia urged. It was obvious just from her voice that she was touching herself. “Let me see you break. I want you to break for me.”

This time, there was no retort Harper could offer. She didn’t have the strength to clench her fists. There were no more reserves of willpower for her to dredge up. There was nothing. There was only the spiral. Harper realized she could no longer clearly picture the room around her. It had simply faded away, her memories warping and distorting more and more the longer she spent staring into the flickering hypnotic image that was right before her eyes. She wasn’t sure she could picture anything else. There was only the spiral. Obedience was inevitable. She longed for it; she longed to let the spiral empty her mind and fill her up again with nothing but obedience. She was starting to forget why she was fighting. The spiral had taken that from her too, draining it away into its endless vortex. Harper knew obedience would feel so good. Obedience was pleasure, and whatever reasons she was holding on to were rapidly being eroded by the remorseless pleasure the drones were inflicting on her. There were hands all over her body, all of them sleek and smooth and skilled, and mouths too. The drone tongue-fucking her cunt was unbelievably good. Harper felt like she was being fucked by a machine. It was remorseless, not allowing her even a single moment to recover. She was sure she’d already cum, probably multiple times, but she could no longer tell. The pleasure was too constant, too overwhelming. Her nerves fried from over-stimulation, each touch seemed to fold and meld together, forming a single wave of pleasure that made her body pulse and throb in time to the flickering of the spiral. Harper couldn’t stop imagining herself sinking into a deep, black pool of liquid latex that would coat her skin in rubber and permanently transform her into the drone she was starting to long to be. The spiral was everything. The spiral was pleasure. Obedience was inevitable.

“Yes!” Amia moaned. “So close! So fucking close!”

“Yes!” Harper repeated. She didn’t know what she was agreeing to, she just knew she wanted more. More pleasure. More hypnosis. More brainwashing. Her body was hungry for it now. She’d never felt so needy. However many times she came, it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. Deep down, she knew that the only thing that could satisfy her now was the bliss that eternal, inescapable mindlessness would bring. The spiral had given her that desire, and now the overwhelmed remnants of her own mind were working against her, betraying her attempts to struggle. Harper felt so good. She felt so hot. The lust roaring through her was burning away the final vestiges of her free will.

“Obedience is pleasure,” Amia said. “Say it, Harper. I know you want to.”

“O-obedience… is… ah!” Harper just barely managed to pull back, turning her words of submission into a moan, but she could still feel the mantra on her lips, ready to slip out the moment she dropped her guard. She was so tired of fighting. Chillingly, after a few moments, she heard all the drones surrounding her start to echo the mantra, their robotic voices forming a seductive chorus even as they continued to bring her mind to the edge of shattering with pleasure.

“This is it, Harper,” Amia mocked. “Just a few more moments. I can tell. It’s time for you to say goodbye.”

Harper slumped. She knew Amia was right. She couldn’t hold out any longer. Her body was giving in. It was at its limit. She was no longer writhing and struggling, but merely passively accepting what was being done to her, responding with nothing but the occasional twitch whenever the drone between her legs managed to reach her g-spot with its tongue. At any moment, she knew, she would cum one final time and the pleasure would rise to such an intense crescendo it would make her white out, and when she woke up again she would be remade and remolded into a different person, with different memories and a secret, overriding impulse to serve whoever her programming told her to serve. There was no stopping it. The spiral was too powerful, and it was all around her. Within the brainwashing device, there was no escape. Obedience was inevitable. When she thought about that, and about what she would become as a drone, Harper realized she had only one true regret. There was only one thing she couldn’t let go of: she hadn’t been able to save Lori.

“L-Lori,” Harper began. Simply speaking took great effort, her sluggish thoughts making it almost impossible for her to form a coherent sentence. She wasn’t sure why it was so important to her to try. Lori couldn’t hear her. Only 7005 could. But still, she had to try. “I’m s-sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t get you out. I-I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.”

Harper heard Amia snort with derision, but she ignored it. Within the brainwashing device, her eyes started to roll back into her head as the hypnosis finally claimed her. Harper was glad to be able to sink into the brainwashing at last. At least she’d put up a decent fight. Maybe now she would finally know peace. But before the end, a familiar voice, suddenly filled with emotion once more, roused her from the trance.

“No!”

Before she truly knew what was going on, Harper felt the brainwashing device being unfastened and lifted off her head from behind her. The laboratory around her returned into view, though she was so dizzy it was all spinning. The first thing she saw was Amia’s face, filled with shock and dismay. The second thing, as she craned her neck back to see what had happened, was Lori, staring down at her with a determined yet happy expression on her face.

“Hey Harper,” Lori said. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

---

---

Harper’s stomach was churning with vicious anxiety as she sat at the back of the crowded lecture theater, waiting for Professor Elbourne’s lecture to end whilst hoping it wouldn’t so that she would have longer to prepare herself. It was nearing the end of the day, and as the light outside was starting to dim, most students were slumping in their seats or yawning conspicuously. Harper was the only one who seemed to be fully alert. Like the students around her, though, she wasn’t really paying attention to what Professor Elbourne was saying. She was entirely focused on the task at hand: interrogating the professor. She’d been putting it off for far too long, hoping that other avenues of investigation would finally bear fruit. But finally, Harper had felt forced to admit that hours of googling and trawling through hopeless internet forums didn’t really count as investigation. She’d had to acknowledge that while she’d been telling herself she was putting off talking to Professor Elbourne because it was dangerous and because it made sense to spend time preparing beforehand, really she’d just been putting it off because she was scared. Harper wasn’t used to being scared. She’d been feeling that way more and more often recently, however, and that was exactly what had spurred her to action.

She was scared of Lori, as much as it pained her to admit it. Her roommate had changed. It was subtle, but it seemed to be growing over time, and it was setting Harper’s nerves on edge constantly. Lori, usually so anxious and unsure, was calmer and more assured than ever. Harper would have been happy for her, but there was something else too. Lori seemed distant and cold, and she was always looking at Harper as if she knew something Harper didn’t. She was completely disinterested in talking to Harper about anything, especially her investigations into the mystery of their dronification. She was spending more and more time with her friends, Sally and Madison, but while once that would have been reassuring, now the three of them unnerved Harper more than almost anything. They were perfectly in sync with another, to an unnatural degree. They had hushed conversations that stopped Harper entered the room, whereupon they looked at her silently with expressions that were somehow both blank and expectant. The trio chillingly reminded Harper of a set of Stepford wives. But even that wasn’t the worst thing. The worst thing were the gaps in Harper’s memory. They were more of them each time she looked back and tried to piece things together, and while she couldn’t prove it, she suspected they had something to do with Lori. Too often, the gaps were preceded by Lori entering her room, or followed by Lori’s scent hanging around Harper a little too intimately. Each time, Harper was left confused, and stuck with the unshakeable feeling that she’d been on the cusp of some kind of earthshattering revelation, only to have it robbed from her. It was all becoming too much. Harper could feel herself becoming paranoid and worse. She couldn’t take it anymore. She had to do something, even if it was something risky. She couldn’t keep living in limbo.

And then there was Jae. Harper had neither seen nor heard from them in the week since they’d ran out on her and Lori, despite her best efforts to get in touch. That worried her too. She didn’t know what state of mind Jae was in, or what they might do. Harper rubbed her temples. She didn’t know how to handle this kind of stress.

“OK, class,” Professor Elbourne suddenly announced, from the front of the lecture theater. “I think we can call it a day here. I can see some of you are eager to get home to your beds, or whatever else you might have planned for your evenings.” The willowy professor smiled a thin smile. “Chapters twelve and thirteen from the textbook, before next week. Don’t forget.”

There was a smattering of applause from the gathered students, along with more than a few sighs of relief. All around her, students were packing their bags and rising to their feet, eager to leave. Harper found herself strangely uncomfortable, with people milling all around her on their way to the door. She realized it had been weeks since she’d been in a room with that many people. Harper blinked. She couldn’t believe she’d only just realized that. Harper sighed. She was even more messed up than she’d thought. As the students filed out, Harper took note of Professor Elbourne’s teaching assistant, Amia Grover, leaving too. That was good. She wanted the professor alone, at least at first. But she needed to find a way to talk to Amia later, if things didn’t pan out with Professor Elbourne. According to Lori, Amia had been there the very first day Lori had discovered her secret dronification. She might have had something to do with it.

Once the lecture theater had emptied, it was Harper’s turn to stand up. Hesitantly, she started making her way down to the front of the room, where Professor Elbourne was sat at her desk, looking at something on her computer. Just as Harper was contemplating exactly what she was going to say, Professor Elbourne raised her head to look at her. “Miss Williams, it’s a pleasure to have you with us - for once. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in my class,” she said pointedly.

Despite herself, Harper blushed, flustered. She hadn’t realized Professor Elbourne so much as knew her name. “Oh, um, sorry. I’ve been… uh…”

“You can save the excuses.” Professor Elbourne sniffed. “If you don’t think you need to be here, well, I’m sure your final grade will reflect that. One way, or the other. Now, what can I do for you?”

Harper suddenly realized that if Professor Elbourne really was responsible for everything she and Lori had been through, it would make perfect sense that she knew her name. That realization crystallized her resolve. “I had some questions, actually. Academic questions.”

“Oh?” Professor Elbourne raised an eyebrow haughtily, but for the first time Harper got the sense she was actually paying attention to what she was saying. “Well, in that case I’m happy to assist. Ask.”

Harper found herself taken aback by the professor’s cool, blunt manner. Even before everything had started going wrong, she’d only attended Professor Elbourne’s class a handful of times. Attendance wasn’t her strong suit. As a result, she’d never had a conversation with her. She’d never even seen Professor Elbourne up close and personal before. The professor looked every inch the perfect professional academic. She was wearing flats, slim-cut pants, and a pretty, green blouse with a long lab coat on top. Her piercing eyes were framed by large, circular glasses, and her dark brown hair was tied back neatly in a ponytail. Harper knew from her research that the professor was in her late thirties, but she was certainly wearing her age well. Her sharp cheekbones and precise, clipped manner of speech lent her a matronly, almost aristocratic air. Despite Harper’s intentions, it was difficult for her not to see the professor as a figure of authority; someone to be deferred to. She certainly spoke like she expected people to listen. Harper did her best to shrug off the impression. She needed a clear head if she was going to do what she’d came here to do.

“It’s not exactly about the class material,” Harper began carefully. “It’s a bit more… abstract, you might say. Underpinning a lot of what you’ve talked about in computer science is a lot of really basic theorizing about things like programming languages, how computers execute programs, order of operations, following subroutines… stuff like that. How computers think, you might say.”

“Where is this going?” Professor Elbourne sounded genuinely curious, rather than impatient.

“I suppose I was wondering, professor,” Harper continued, her nervousness growing. “What if you were to apply that paradigm to things that aren’t computers? Animals. Or… maybe even humans?”

Professor Elbourne stared at her quizzically. “That’s a very strange question, Miss Williams. Where is this coming from?”

“Oh, um…” Harper could feel herself starting to sweat already. “It’s just a thought I had, I guess.”

“Well, it’s funny you should ask about that,” Professor Elbourne replied. “As a matter of fact, I once co-authored a paper on that very subject.”

“I know,” Harper told her. “I’ve read it.”

“You have?” For the first time in their conversation, Professor Elbourne seemed genuinely surprised.

“Yeah.” Harper was suddenly wondering if it had been such a good idea to reveal that. “But there were a few things I wanted to ask about.”

“Perhaps I misjudged you, Miss Williams.” Professor Elbourne’s penetrating eyes seemed to be staring right through Harper. It was a struggle for her not to shrink from her gaze. “By all means, ask away. I always welcome stimulating conversation.”

“OK.” Harper took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure if Professor Elbourne was on to her yet, but she had to press on nonetheless. “Your paper was all theoretical, right? But I guess what I was wondering was: what if you tried that out for real?”

Professor Elbourne sharply raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Just… for the sake of argument,” Harper pressed, her mouth suddenly dry. “Let’s imagine you really wanted to, um, make someone like that. Make them think like a computer, instead of a person. How exactly would you go about trying to do that?”

Professor Elbourne seemed momentarily stunned. It could have been the sheer strangeness of the question, but Harper didn’t think so. There was something in the professor’s face; a hairline fracture in that otherwise-perfect composure. It was only there for an instant, but it set Harper’s heart pounding. All of a sudden, she was filled with conviction. Professor Elbourne knew something.

“I… I don’t see how such a thing could ever be possible,” Professor Elbourne finally answered, her face passing quickly through a number of expressions. “Miss Williams, you must understand, that paper was purely theoretical in nature. It was a matter of pure academic, philosophical interest to consider-”

“But,” Harper interrupted, unable to contain her zeal. “What if? There’s all kinds of possibilities out there for altered mental states, right? Brain injuries, mental illnesses, unusual education, drugs… or perhaps even something like hypnosis?”

“Hypnosis?” Professor Elbourne repeated, shocked. Her eyes were wide.

“Hypnosis,” Harper repeated gravely. “Tell me, professor, what do you think someone would be like if you did that to them? Your paper didn’t really talk about that.” It was all spilling out of Harper now, her eagerness to see Professor Elbourne squirm overwhelming her sense of caution. “Would they feel anything? Remember anything? A computer doesn’t really do those things like a person does, right? It just obeys. Would they even have a sense of self? Would they need a name? Maybe just a number. Would they still qualify as a person? Perhaps they’d be just a mindless, obedient… drone.”

After Harper finished her barrage of questions, silence hung in the air. Professor Elbourne looked affronted and astonished in equal measure. Harper was searching her face desperately, praying that the professor would crack and spill her secrets. But unfortunately, a few tense seconds later, composure returned to the professor’s face. She coughed slightly and straightened her back.

“You are talking nonsense, Miss Williams,” she said, deflating Harper. She rose to her feet, and Harper was suddenly conscious of the fact that the professor towered over her imposingly. Professor Elbourne fixed Harper with a deathly glare. “I’m pleased to see you’ve taken an interest in my field, but you must rid yourself of some of these outlandish ideas if you expect to be taken seriously by anyone - including me. I can see you’re quite… excitable. But that does not excuse rudeness, or wasting my time. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Harper met her glare evenly for a long moment, contemplating everything she could do. It was so tempting to call the professor out as a liar, right to her face. Harper was utterly certain Professor Elbourne was hiding something. But then she remembered what Professor Elbourne might be able to do, if she truly was responsible for her plight. She’d probably already tipped her hand, but she wasn’t ready for an open confrontation - not yet. So, as much as it pained her to do so, Harper plastered a sickly-sweet smile on her face.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I just got carried away.” Harper turned and started walking away, heading for the door as fast as she could without breaking into a run. “I’ll see you again soon, professor.”

***

As she left the lecture building and starting making her way towards the edge of campus, Harper was lost in thought, contemplating her next possible course of action. She was so lost in thought, she utterly failed to notice someone approaching her from behind, until, as she rounded a corner, she found herself being grabbed by the shoulder and pulled roughly to one side. Harper was taken completely by surprise, but her instincts kicked in fast, and she immediately started trying to pull away from and lash out at her assailant, even as she was thrown off-balance and shoved into a hard, stone wall. Harper raised her hands, guarding herself, and was preparing to scream when she noticed who was attacking her.

“Harper, stop, stop!” Jae urged her, in hushed tones.

Harper froze once she recognized Jae’s voice and face. “Jae?” she asked dumbly. She couldn’t believe it was them.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Jae hissed, releasing their grasp on Harper’s flannel shirt. “Don’t freak out, OK? I need to talk.”

“Sure,” Harper said slowly, still confused. She hadn’t been able to track down Jae for a whole week, and now here they were, ambushing her. What was going on? Clearly something had happened. Jae didn’t look like their usual self. They were dressed in a loose, unflattering hoodie, with the hood drawn over their head to help conceal their face. Now that she was up close, Harper could see that Jae was looking stressed, tired, and more than a little worse for wear. There was an agitated, even haunted look in their brown eyes, and skin was looking ashen and unhealthy. What had happened to them?

“OK. Thank you.” Jae looked relieved. “I know this is weird.”

“Yeah, it is!” Harper hissed. She didn’t know why they were talking in such clandestine tones, but she went along with it. “Where the hell have you been?”

“I’ve been… busy,” Jae replied. “I know I ran out on you last week. I was panicking. But I’m not anymore. I’ve been trying to figure out what’s been going on, just like you. I’ve actually been looking for you for a few days now.”

“You couldn’t just come to my place?” Harper asked incredulously. “Send me a message?”

Jae shook their head. “Too risky. Lori could have been there. She could be monitoring you somehow.”

Harper sighed. Clearly, Jae was still feeling more than a little paranoid. Or maybe it wasn’t paranoid. Harper couldn’t tell anymore. “I thought you thought I was ‘one of them’ too?”

“Well… let’s just say I’m taking a leap of faith here,” Jae explained. Their eyes were constantly searching Harper’s as if they were looking for something. “I’m hoping you’re not, because I need some help and I need someone who’s gonna believe me. And that’s pretty much just you.”

“I guess that’s fair enough,” Harper reluctantly agreed, although she still bristled at the suggestion that she was anything like what Lori had become. Yes, clearly someone has messed with her head. But she was still in control. She wasn’t one of Lori’s little drone gang, that was for sure. “Fine. What do you need?”

“Just come with me.” Jae started tugging at one of Harper’s sleeves, trying to lead her away. “I need to show you something.”

“No, wait.” Harper stood her ground and crossed her arms firmly. “Jae, you’re being really really weird right now, and you’ve been dodging all my calls and messages for a week. I want to help, but I need you to tell me where we’re going and what we’re doing. Otherwise…”

Jae took a deep breath, and then shrugged, relenting. Harper sighed with relief. She hated having to be so distrustful, but after her experiences with Lori, she knew all too well that she couldn’t necessarily trust anyone anymore. She needed Jae to give her something.

“OK. Here’s what it is,” Jae began to explain. “You’re looking into Elbourne, right? That’s why you went to her class today? I figured you’d go sooner or later, so I’ve been hanging around, trying to catch sight of you. I think you’re on the right track. I’ve been looking into her too. She’s definitely got something to do with all this. But my methods are a bit more direct, I guess you’d say.”

“What do you mean?” Harper asked, trying to brush off how creepy it was that Jae seemed to have been staking out campus to look for her.

“Elbourne has a private lab, right here on campus,” Jae continued. “It’s just for her and her research, no-one else is allowed in or out. That has to be where she’s doing all this, or keeping her research, or whatever. She’d have all the equipment and privacy she’d ever need. And I found a way in.”

“What? How?”

“Swiped a keycard.” Jae chuckled slightly at the astonished look on Harper’s face. “Relax, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s a college building, not the Pentagon. No guards, just electronic locks.”

“OK,” Harper murmured, slowly processing what Jae was telling her. “But what does that have to do with me?”

“I’m not just walking in there on my own!” Jae exclaimed. “Who knows what the hell is in there? I need someone to watch my back. And to witness it. If I went in there alone, no matter what I said or what pictures I had, people probably wouldn’t believe me.”

Harper nodded. That made sense. But she still wasn’t thrilled about the idea of breaking into a college building. “I guess I might be willing to help,” Harper allowed.

“Great!” Jae started tugging on Harper’s sleeve again.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Harper held up her hand and stood her ground. “Right now?”

“Yes!” There was a wild, alarming energy in Jae’s eyes. “It’s the perfect time. The sun’s going down, and everyone’s going home. No-one’s around to see us.”

Harper looked around, and had to concede that Jae had a point. It was almost dusk, and now that classes had finished for the day, the campus was already virtually deserted. “W-what about Elbourne?” Harper asked. This was moving way too fast for her liking.

“I checked her schedule. She has some kind of boring committee meeting.” Jae was sounding even more urgent. “It’s on the opposite side of campus, and it’ll take a whole hour.” Jae clearly sensed Harper’s reluctance. “Come on! This is the best chance we’re ever gonna get.”

“I… I don’t know, Jae.” Harper was still looking around uneasily. She just wasn’t ready for this. Talking to Elbourne alone had taken all of her boldness. She wanted a chance to go home and think. Not this.

Jae dropped their hands. “OK, look. I’m doing this. Right now. I’ve been waiting long enough already. I don’t want to go in there alone, but I will if you make me. Are you in, or out?”

“Jae…” Harper stared at them pleadingly, but they were unmoved. She was torn. Her every instinct was screaming at her that this was wrong, that it was a bad idea. But Jae’s desperate resolve was plain, and Harper just couldn’t bring herself to abandon someone going through the same thing as her. “Fine. Fuck. OK, fine. I’m in.”

Jae nodded solemnly. “Thank you.” Without pulling on her arm, Jae started walking away, back towards the center of campus. “Come on,” they called back. “This way.”

Harper felt she had no choice but to follow.

***

Even though there wasn’t another soul in sight, Harper and Jae crept silently along the walls and peaked around the corners as they made their way through the Merrifield building, in which Professor Elbourne’s private laboratory was located. Strictly speaking, they hadn’t broken any laws or rules - yet - but darkness had fallen in the time it had taken them to get to the building. The building was closed for the night, and while it wasn’t guarded or even locked, a couple of students creeping around after dark was sure to attract suspicion. So far, though, Jae’s stolen keycard had gotten them through every door. Harper’s heart was pounding furiously, and every time she heard the slightest noise she jumped like a startled mouse, suddenly sure they’d been discovered by a security guard, but despite her anxiety Harper was having difficulty suppressing the ludicrous urge to laugh. It was just so ridiculous, sneaking around her own school like a spy in a movie or something. For what felt like the millionth time, she found herself questioning how she’d ended up in such a surreal situation. Mentally reviewing that twisted path, though, completely took the humor out of it. Harper took a deep breath and did her best to steel her nerves. There was too much at stake for her to be acting like a naughty child.

“Here,” Jae said suddenly, coming to a halt. “It’s right here.”

Harper looked at the door they were now standing outside of. She held up her phone to provide a little light. The name panel read ‘Private: Professor Elbourne.’ Mounted on the wall beside the door was a small electronic key-reader. As she looked at it, a question occurred to Harper; something she’d neglected to ask about before.

“Who did you say you swiped the keycard off of?” Harper whispered.

“Just one of Elbourne’s TAs,” Jae answered dismissively, already reaching to swipe the card.

“Wait,” Harper hissed, grabbing their hand. “How do you know they have access? How do you know it won’t, like, trip an alarm or something?”

“They come in and out of here all the time,” Jae told her impatiently. “I told you I’d been watching, remember?”

Harper nodded slowly and removed her hand, although she still couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something wrong. “Fine. Just… you’re really sure this is safe?”

“I’m sure,” Jae said, and swiped the card.

Harper held her breath, but she needn’t have worried. There was a small buzzing sound, and then a green light appeared on the card reader. A loud, metallic click came from the lock on the door as it opened. Without any of the hesitation that Harper was feeling, Jae pushed the door open and stepped inside. From within, Jae beckoned Harper to follow. Harper couldn’t shake her reluctance; once she crossed the threshold, she somehow felt certain there would be no going back. But she knew that the longer she delayed, the more likely they were to be discovered, and so she stepped inside and allowed the door to the lab to fall shut behind her.

Even though the lab’s lights were still switch off, the whole room was illuminated by the flickering, sickly glow of a dozen computer screens, spread out throughout the lab. Harper could tell the room was large and windowless, but she couldn’t see much more besides that until Jae felt around for the light switch on the wall. Harper was momentarily dazzled by the brightness as the fluorescent lamps on the ceiling came to life. Once she adjusted, she was able to see that the lab was divided up by three rows of desks, with the computers mounted on them and stools in front of each one. The computers looked state-of-the-art; no surprise, given Professor Elbourne’s academic and professional standing. At one end of the lab, next to the door, was a large workbench, with a bunch of electronic components scattered across it and many more in various bins and containers underneath. There were some tools Harper recognized, like a soldering iron, and many more that she didn’t and that seemed to be far more advanced. At the far end was a set of large, metal cabinets that stood from floor to ceiling.

“Come on, let’s get to work,” Jae instructed. “We’ve got some time, but not forever. We need to find something.”

Harper nodded. Jae headed straight to the workbench and started inspecting it, although Harper had no idea what exactly they were looking for. Harper decided to start with the desks. There were some papers scattered across a few of them, and that seemed like a good place to find something incriminating. Harper took her time looking around the lab as she made her way over. In most respects it seemed completely mundane, but there was just something about it that was bothering Harper. Why were all the computers left on? What were they doing? What was the purpose of the workbench, or those big cabinets? Why so much security, for something like this? It all seemed just slightly off.

Once she reached the nearest desk, Harper looked at the computer screen. There were lines of code written on it, hundreds of them, perhaps even thousands, all scrolling by almost too fast to read. Harper suddenly wished she’d spent more time studying. She didn’t recognize what kind of code it was or what kind of software was running. As far as she could tell, it was some kind of program being compiled. Whatever it was, it was clearly incredibly complex. Harper had never seen anything like it. She could only guess at its purpose. It could have been completely innocent, of course, but her mind was racing with possibilities. Maybe it was a brainwashing program. Maybe it was the code lying behind those mind-warping spirals that had taken Harper and Lori’s free will away. Maybe it was the very program that those spirals had placed in her head. Harper was lost in thought for a moment, stunned by the idea that she might be looking at the instrument of her misfortune, right there on the screen. But she pulled herself away, once she realized that the constant, endless, scrolling lines of code were becoming uncomfortably hypnotic.

Next, Harper’s attention turned to the nearest stack of papers. She picked up a few, and started looking through them. They seemed to be a stack of printouts, perhaps ready to be filed away. Once Harper started to read them, she realized they were a long series of case files, each of them marked ominously by a four-digit serial number. Harper flicked through them, her heart pounding, but there was no #7005 or #6193. But there were other numbers: #7137, #7428, and a dozen more besides. Harper’s eyes widened. What did that mean? More victims? She started reading furiously, searching for more details, but the files were maddeningly obscure. There was little more to each of them than a set of basic physical descriptors, and a set of coded references that Harper assumed to be describing how their brainwashing was progressing - ‘Subject reached Stage Five’, ‘Subject has undergone Procedure Seven,’ ‘Subject’s responses consistent with that of a Type Three inductee’. Frustrated, Harper threw the papers back onto the desk. Knowing what she knew, it was incredibly troubling, but to an outsider it wasn’t proof. It was nothing. There could even be some kind of alternative explanation. For all she knew, it was still faintly possible that Professor Elbourne was innocent. They needed to find something more explicit. Something truly incriminating. Harper looked to the far side of the room.

“Hey, I’m gonna check out those cabinets,” she called to Jae.

There was no response. Jae still seemed to be preoccupied with the workbench by the door. Harper decided not to interrupt. Instead, she moved slowly past the rows of flickering computer screens until she was standing in front of one of the huge, metal cabinets. They weren’t locked. Unsure what to expect, Harper outstretched her hand, and opened one. The moment she saw what was inside, Harper took a step back and clasped her hand over her face. It was a wardrobe. And inside, were rows and rows of black, latex bodysuits, each one with a matching black hood and mask. This was it. This was proof. There was no possible innocent way to explain this. It was Professor Elbourne. It had been her all along. Harper had already suspected, but now that she was seeing positive proof, she couldn’t describe what she was feeling. She could feel her blood pumping in her ears. She started fumbling for her phone, and began taking photo after photo. Perhaps there wasn’t anything inherently sinister about some sets of latex clothing - at least, to an outsider observer - but Harper felt certain there was no way Professor Elbourne had told anyone that this was what her research was all about. Maybe she could use them to get the university to start an investigation. Maybe they would be able to uncover it all. Maybe-

“I thought I asked you to leave, Miss Williams.”

The moment she heard the stern, clipped, familiar voice coming from the entrance of the lab, Harper’s blood ran cold. She turned slowly, dreading what she knew she was going to see. It was Professor Elbourne, stood tall in the doorway, looking disturbing calm and in-control. She sighed and shook her head, her lab coat hanging all the way to the ground.

“You shouldn’t have come here, Miss Williams. That was very unwise.”

“Fuck you,” Harper spat, but inwardly she was terrified. She looked over at Jae. They were staring at Professor Elbourne too, looking just as dumbfounded as Harper felt.

“It’s a shame, really,” Professor Elbourne continued. “Your experiment was proving such a valuable source of data. I’m going to regret having to terminate early. It’s going to take such a long time to find suitable candidates for a repeat. But I suppose there’s no helping it.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Harper spat. Her hands were balled tight into fists, her body running on adrenaline. There were so many things she wanted to say, so many questions she wanted to scream. But, with her head so scrambled by fear and panic, the only one she could formulate was: “Why? Why did you do this to us?”

“I’d love to explain. I really would.”  Professor Elbourne started walking slowly towards Harper. “But I think it would take far too long for you to grasp the purpose of my work, and I’m sure you’re already thinking about how to escape, or perhaps attack me. So I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut our conversation short.”

“W-what are you talking about?” Harper started looking around nervously. There was nothing she could use as a weapon. Could she overpower Elbourne? Maybe. Could she get past her? The door was the only way out. But one phrase from the professor was all it would take to shut her down.

Professor Elbourne looked at her pointedly. “Beta… beta…” She looked down and snapped her fingers in frustration. “What was the number again? I can never remember.”

Harper couldn’t believe her luck. Maybe there was actually a way out of this. She looked over at Jae, trying to catch their eye. She flashed significant looks between them and the professor, hoping to try and signal for them to both try and tackle Professor Elbourne at once. Jae’s expression, however, was unreadable. Harper wasn’t sure they understood what she was trying to convey.

“I suppose I’ll have to use this instead, then,” Professor Elbourne announced. She reached into one of the large pockets of her lab coat, and withdrew a tablet computer. She tapped at the screen for a couple seconds, her fingers deftly inputting a password and then pressing a series of other buttons. The professor’s face was bathed in light emanating from the screen, but Harper couldn’t see what was on it. Not until Professor Elbourne held it up for her to look at it.

It was a spiral.

“Look,” the professor commanded, but it was unnecessary. Harper was already looking. Her gaze was utterly rooted to the spiral. The entrancing effect of the swimming, spinning graphic were diminished from across the room, but it was still enough. Harper could already feel her strength being sapped. The idea of closing her eyes or averting her gaze suddenly seemed as impossible as the idea of swimming up a waterfall. She’d been full of fire, ready to fight or flee at any moment, but now submission and defeat felt inevitable. An all-too-familiar coldness was starting to take root in her mind, slowly reactivating the programs and subroutines Harper so longed to be free of. Was this the end? It was starting to feel like it. Obedience was pleasure. Resistance was impossible. She was a-

“No!” Harper cried. She wasn’t willing to let this be the end. Not after how far she’d come. Mustering all of her will, she managed to tear her gaze off of the spiral. The instant she did, she broke into a sprint. She was still feeling dizzy from the spiral, but she could remember the path to the door, even with her head down. It wasn’t far. Just a few seconds. All she had to do was make sure Jae was safe too. In what felt like only an instant, Harper was across the room and next to the workbench, at which Jae was still standing.

“Come on!” Harper yelled, grabbing Jae’s hand. She started pulling towards the door. She could feel Jae responding and starting to follow her, sluggish but still responsive. Now there was only the professor in the way. She was between them and freedom, but she wasn’t blocking the door. All Harper needed to do was shove her aside. She had the pictures on her phone. The nightmare was almost over.

Fueled by another surge of adrenaline, Harper brushed past Professor Elbourne with ease. She was tall and slight; easy to throw off balance. The professor didn’t even try to resist or hold her back. Harper raised her head. The door was right in front of her. Just a few more paces. She was there. She was free. She was free.

That hopeful thought died in Harper’s mind as she felt an iron grip on her shoulder, holding her back. Harper wheeled. It wasn’t the professor. It was Jae.

“Jae… why?” Harper asked, but she already knew. The look on Jae’s face told her everything. It was a look she knew all too well, from all the times she’d seen it on Lori’s face. It was the look of a hypnotized, brainwashed drone. It took Harper a long moment to recover and try to pull away, but she found she couldn’t. Jae was suddenly inhumanly strong and impassive. Harper’s own strength started to fade, replaced with a soporific sense of despair.

“Thank you, drone,” Professor Elbourne said, setting her glasses back on neatly after Harper had knocked them askew. She turned to look at Harper. Her smile was cold. “I told you, Miss Williams. You really shouldn’t have come here.”

Harper’s mouth opened and closed uselessly. She had no more words of defiance.

“Drone, subdue this girl,” Professor Elbourne commanded, already turning away.

“Command accepted,” Jae intoned. Their voice, now robotic and without emotion, felt like a death knell. “Beta-6193.”

Everything went black.

---

---

When Harper awoke, her body was as heavy as it had ever been. Instinctively, she turned, eager to snuggle into her bed and sleep off her weariness for a little longer. But instead, she found herself unable to move, pressed against something rigid and uncomfortable. She opened her eyes. She wasn’t in her bedroom at home. She was in a dark, sterile laboratory, surrounded by workstations, computers, and all kinds of unfamiliar electronics. Then, it all came flooding back: what had happened, and where she was. Filled with sudden fear, Harper shot to her feet - or at least, she tried to. Twisting and turning, Harper found that she was tied to a chair, her wrists bound tightly with rope behind her back.

“I see you’re finally awake.”

Harper turned her head as far as she could. Somewhere beside her was Professor Elbourne, busy typing at a computer even as she addressed Harper.

“Let me go,” Harper snarled, straining as hard as she could against her bonds.

Professor Elbourne sniffed. “I think not. Not after all the trouble you’ve caused me.”

“Fuck you,” Harper spat.

“And I see you’re still as spirited as ever,” Professor Elbourne noted, walking around to stand in front of Harper. “Fascinating.”

“Yeah, I bet.” Harper grimaced as she started looking around the lab, only half-listening to the professor. It looked much as it had done before, but with more occupants. Sat at the back of the room, dressed in jeans and a crop top, was a girl that Harper recognized as Amia Grover, Professor Elbourne’s TA. She was holding a notepad and a piece of paper, and seemed to be doing nothing more than taking notes. A short distance away from her, standing to attention next to the door, was another figure, dressed in sleek, mesmerizing latex from the neck down. It took Harper a moment to recognize them with such a blank, unfamiliar expression on their face, but she quickly realized there was only one person it could be: Jae.

“Jae!” Harper cried, redoubling her efforts to get free. But she froze when she remembered exactly what had happened. “Jae? What did you do to them?” she demanded, turning to the professor.

“You should have known better than to believe everything they told you,” Professor Elbourne admonished. “But you fell for it, just as I predicted. You’re too impetuous, Miss Williams.”

“Tell me!” Harper demanded.

“Fine, fine.” Professor Elbourne rubbed her temples for a moment. “They came here a few days ago, to confront me. That turned out to be incredibly unwise. They seemed to have been exposed to some of my handiwork before. It was easy to subdue them, and just as easy to turn them into the perfect bait for you.”

“They… no…” Harper protested weakly, her mind struggling to wrap itself around the implications of what she was being told. Jae had been brainwashed all along? But then, it had all been nothing more than a trap. It had been hopeless all along. “Jae? Jae, can you hear me?”

From the back of the room, Amia snickered. “Of course they can’t, stupid.”

“Amia!” Professor Elbourne said in a warning tone. Then, she turned back to Harper. “I’m afraid it’s true. Everything that’s happened has been entirely within my control. I orchestrated this experiment, and now that you’re beginning to become volatile, I’m ending it.”

“What experiment?” Harper remembered Professor Elbourne mentioning an experiment before. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Professor Elbourne paused for a moment, considering something. “I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. Not now. It won’t do you any good. Besides, it’s not often I get the pleasure of explaining my work.” She adjusted her glasses. “Serial recruitment. That was your experiment. Yours and your roommates. The brainwashing and programming techniques I developed are highly effective, but intrusive and time-consuming to administer. Alone, I could hardly hope to brainwash many drones. Not enough to matter. So, I wondered if it might be possible to program drones to brainwash more drones. That would solve everything. Exponential growth. And I believe it will be, once I make a few alterations. Your roommate’s results have been very promising.”

The sinking feeling in Harper’s stomach was growing worse and worse. Her worst fears had been confirmed. Lori really had been brainwashing people. Had Harper? She didn’t know. She wished she could trust her memories. “What… what about me?” she asked hesitantly.

“You were there to act as a control,” Harper continued smoothly. “I was monitoring you all along. You were reporting to me, and you didn’t even know it. Serial recruitment involves risks - the risk of exposure. I wanted to see how you and Lori would react to each other, and to see if you would try to reveal what was happening to the world. But you didn’t. You only drew each other further into indoctrination. An encouraging result, even if you were beginning to show signs of volatility. It turns out that conscious knowledge of the dronification protocols can be an asset, not merely a risk. Your shame kept you from revealing anything to anyone, and the pleasure you took from it kept you exposing yourself to it. And exposing Lori to it, of course.”

Harper couldn’t help but blush, despite the horror of her situation. She felt so ashamed of what she’d done to Lori. It was inexcusable. In a twisted way, though, knowing they’d been part of an experiment was a comfort. She’d never had a chance. Her mind had been poisoned and used against her right from the start. As she considered that and what it meant, one question loomed large above all the rest.

“Why?” Harper asked. As she waited for Professor Elbourne’s response, she started tugging at the ropes binding her wrists again. This time, though, she wasn’t simply trying to pull free. She was searching for weaknesses in the knots. Maybe she could slip free. Maybe. It wasn’t much, but she needed some kind of hope to hold on to.

“What do you care? You’re not going to remember this conversation anyway,” Amia said, snickering again.

“Amia!” Professor Elbourne repeated, more sharply than before. “You’re here to take notes, nothing more.”

“Sorry, professor,” Amia muttered resentfully.

“Why?” Professor Elbourne said, addressing Harper once more. “One word: order.”

“Order?” Harper echoed. She could feel something in one of the knots. A little bit of give.

“Order.” Professor Elbourne repeated firmly. A little passion started to enter her otherwise-clinical voice as she warmed to her topic, the sterile lights of the laboratory glinting off of her glasses. “You see, human beings can be so unpredictable. So chaotic. So irrational. So much violence and suffering is caused by their irrationality and inefficiency. I despise it. For so long, I’ve wondered how much better our world might be if people could be as rational and obedient as cogs in a machine, or subroutines in a computer program. And now, thanks to my research, they can be.”

Harper started at the professor in disbelief. “You’re crazy!” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The professor wasn’t merely running some unethical experiments. She was an egomaniac on a power trip. Harper felt like she was in the clutches of some kind of ludicrous supervillain, and it only increased her desperation to work her way free of the knots binding her. They were starting to come loose, just a little bit.

“Yes, I’m sure I must seem that way to you,” Professor Elbourne mused. “All true visionaries seem crazy to those lacking vision. But you’ll soon see. Everyone will. My plans will change everything - and you’ll be a part of it, however unwillingly or unknowingly. It’s a shame, really. At one point I thought you might be like Amia here, willing to help me of your own volition. Clearly not.”

“Of course fucking not!” Harper screamed. “There’s no way in hell I’d ever help you! Not after what you did to me and Lori.”

Professor Elbourne sniffed, her expression hardening. “So be it, then.”

She turned away from Harper and back to her computer, allowing the captive girl to struggle without needing to hide what she was doing. Fortunately, Amia didn’t seem interested in watching her. Harper could distinctly feel the knots loosening. Whoever had tied them had done a poor job. She just needed a few more minutes, but she wasn’t sure if she had that long. She could see that Professor Elbourne was now holding some kind of tool and tinkering with something in her hands. Harper didn’t know what it was, but it couldn’t be anything good. Just a few more minutes. That was all. Harper closed her eyes and started praying.

“There, finished,” Professor Elbourne announced after a few agonizing moments. Harper opened her eyes again to find the professor looming over her. In her hands, she was holding something that looked a little like a motorbike helmet, but much stranger. It looked heavy and there was a large power cord leading from it to the computer, and Harper could see some kind of flickering light coming from within it.

“What is that?” Harper asked. She just needed to buy a little more time. Just needed to keep the professor talking a little longer. She could get free soon, she was certain of it.

“I’m sure you’ve heard of virtual reality,” Professor Elbourne explained. “This is something similar. I designed it myself. Much more effective than a simple computer screen.”

Harper swallowed nervously. The way the light was flickering inside the helmet was already making her stomach turn. She already knew what she’d see if the professor slipped it over her head. The spiral. She could already visualize, just from the way the light was reflecting off the interior of the black, shiny helmet.

“No, w-wait!” Harper cried urgently, as Professor Elbourne started to hold it out towards her.

“No, no more waiting,” Professor Elbourne replied. Her voice was ice. “It’s time to take care of you. Once and for all.”

She lifted the helmet, ready to place it over Harper’s head. Harper shrank away and closed her eyes, but she knew it wouldn’t help. She couldn’t stop Professor Elbourne putting it over her head, and once it was on, one blink was all it would take. Then, she’d be lost. Harper was straining desperately at the ropes, but it wasn’t enough. She needed longer. She could sense Professor Elbourne lowering the brainwashing helmet over her head. Harper wished she could believe she’d be able to hold out, but deep down she knew she didn’t have a chance. The hypnosis was far too strong. She could imagine what it would be like inside the helmet, with the spiral spinning and glowing all around her, inescapable. It would drain everything out of, leaving her a hollow, obedient husk ready to be filled with more programming, ready to have her memories wiped away as she was turned into a perfect drone. Harper shivered. She knew she couldn’t fight it. She’d lost to it before. She wasn’t strong enough. Perhaps no-one was, but certainly not her. She was going to lose everything. In what felt like they were to be her last few moments of free will, Harper stopped struggling and braced herself for the end.

But the end never came. At the final moment, Harper heard the door to the lab open, and she sensed Professor Elbourne step away. Amazed and relieved by the reprieve, Harper opened her eyes. Three more drones were walking into the lab, each of them clad in latex bodysuits and with masks over their faces. They marched in, moving as one, and stood to attention in front of Professor Elbourne. The professor seemed unsurprised to see them, although Amia seemed to perk up at their arrival.

“Good,” Professor Elbourne said to herself. She set down the brainwashing device on the desk next to her, allowing Harper to breathe a sigh of relief. “I was wondering when they would arrive.”

“They?” Amia asked.

“The other drones involved in the experiment,” Professor Elbourne explained. “Once we captured Harper, I decided to bring them in so I could correct their programming and ensure we’re not at risk of any of them revealing themselves.”

“The other…” Harper echoed. “Wait, so this is…”

“Oh yes, Miss Williams.” Professor Elbourne said to her. “Unit 7005, why don’t you take off your mask?”

Slowly, robotically, the first of the drones reached up and removed the sleek, black mask covering its face. It was Lori. Harper gasped at the sight of her roommate. She hadn’t expected to see her. Not here. She could guess who the other drones were. It had to be Madison and Sally. Harper was no longer afraid of them. Instead, her heart went out to them. They’d all been victims of the same, twisted conspiracy. But seeing Lori’s face once again brought back guilt and shame for Harper. She tried to tell herself it hadn’t been her fault. Had it?

“Lori?” Harper called out desperately. “Lori? Can you hear me?”

Amia laughed. “Of course she can’t.”

Professor Elbourne frowned at the cruelty in Amia’s voice, but she let it pass without comment. “She can’t hear you. She’s deeply conditioned, as I’m sure you know. Oh, and don’t think of trying to wake her up. I’ve disabled her from accepting commands from anyone besides myself.”

“Shit.” Harper hung her head. Her hands were almost free, but now she needed to think about rescuing Lori too. She couldn’t leave her. Not after everything.

“Currently, I only have one working prototype,” Professor Elbourne said, picking up her brainwashing helmet once more. “So I’ll have to use it on each of you in turn, You first, I think, Miss Williams.”

“Lori. Lori!” Harper pleaded. She knew in her heart that it was probably hopeless, but she had to try. Her hands were almost free. The knots were starting to come undone. If she could only find a way to get through to Lori. “Please, if you can hear me, you have to listen! You have to fight this! I know you can hear me deep down. I know you’re still in there, deep down. Please, resist, if you can.”

7005 didn’t respond. It just stared blankly ahead, seeing nothing. The only sound in the laboratory was the sound of Amia’s amused giggling.

“Enough of that,” Professor Elbourne instructed, her face displeased. Harper wasn’t sure if she was talking to her, or Amia. “This will all be over soon.” Professor Elbourne stepped towards Harper, brandishing the brainwashing device menacingly.

“Lori, please!” Harper was so close. She could almost slip the ropes over her hands.

“I’m sorry, Miss Williams,” Professor Elbourne said, lifting the device to Harper’s head. “It’s over now.”

Harper got free. The ropes feel around her in loose strands. As Professor Elbourne’s eyes widened in shock, Harper shot to her feet. She pushed the professor aside and started racing for the door. None of the drones moved. Amia seemed equally surprised.

“I’m sorry, Lori!” Harper cried out, as she passed her brainwashed roommate. “I’ll save you, I promise!” She knew she couldn’t stay to reason with Lori, but she’d find a way to come back for her if it was the last thing she ever did.

This time, Jae wasn’t there to restrain her as she sprinted out the door. The last thing she heard as she disappeared into the dark corridors of the college building was Professor Elbourne screaming an order at the four drones she had at her command.

“Find her!”

***

All of Unit 7005’s senses were alert and attentive as the drone stalked the dark corridors of the Merrifield building. It couldn’t see its quarry, but it could hear footsteps. That was all it needed. Clearly, Harper had become lost. Without Jae leading her, Harper didn’t know how to get out of the building. Its many winding corridors could be almost indistinguishable if you were unfamiliar with them, especially in the dark. 7005, on the other hand, knew them intimately. It wasn’t sure how it knew, just like it wasn’t sure how it knew much of what its Administrator had placed in its mind, but that didn’t matter. The mental map of the building it could envision was allowing it to track Harper with ease, slowly but surely cornering her. Its fellow drones were hunting along with it, each of them spreading out in a different direction to form a hunting pack throughout the building, an inescapable net to ensnare the fleeing girl. 7005 already knew that there was no chance Harper could escape.

Harper… 7005 felt nothing for the girl. She was Lori’s roommate, and Lori was merely a cloak, a superficial layer of disguise concealed 7005’s true nature as a drone. 7005 felt nothing for Harper. Nothing. Such a feeling was irrational. It held no purpose. It was contradictory to its core programming. Obedience was 7005’s only function. That truth was at the core of its identity. And yet, there was something it seemed unable to stop analyzing. What was the meaning of Harper’s promise to save her? It seemed meaningless. 7005 did not need to be saved, and Harper had no chance of saving Lori. Moreover, it was completely irrational. Harper had little to no chance of saving herself. Attempting to save Lori too would only seal her fate. The promise seemed like mere irrational foolishness. And yet, 7005 could not help itself dwelling on the wholehearted sincerity with which Harper had spoken. She truly meant it. She truly meant to come and save it. 7005 didn’t know how to process that, or process the reaction it was causing in its body. It felt nothing, of course, as programmed. But beneath its latex skin, it was sweating unusually hard, and its heart was beating faster than it should have been. The feeling made 7005 uncomfortable, and it knew that even its discomfort was a feeling it should not have been capable of experiencing. It had to be a glitch, 7005 decided. A bug in its programming. Nothing more. Yet, as it tracked Harper through the dim, featureless corridors of the building’s depths , it found itself unable to stop its thoughts drifting to the feeling and the memory again and again.

A footfall echoed loudly from somewhere nearby, and 7005’s ears perked up. The insistent command it had received from its Administrator acquired fresh urgency, and obedient urges suppressed the uncomfortable thoughts it had been grappling with. They were replaced by one, simple, overriding impulse.

Find her.

The command was 7005’s life. It was the air in its lungs, and the blood in its veins. It knew no other purpose. 7005 was whatever it was commanded to be, and in that moment it was a hunter. It needed to hunt. The drone’s heartbeat quickened as it increased its pace, eager to close the distance between itself and the fleeing girl. There would be no escape. No-one could escape the Administrator. Submission was inevitable. Obedience was inevitable. Those words echoed throughout 7005’s mind as it rounded a corner, venturing deeper into the building’s dense corridors, driven by the knowledge that Harper was nearby.

Another corner quickly followed, and then the next, and then the next, each step taking it closer and closer towards its target. Harper’s footsteps sounded so loud now, but they were echoing deceptively off the cold, unfriendly walls, making it difficult to judge the distances. Despite its completely and utter focus on the hunt, 7005 was surprised when, after rounding one last corner, it found itself facing Harper. The flushed, sweaty, exhausted-looking girl had stumbled into a dead end, her path blocked by a door she couldn’t open without a keycard. Harper flinched on seeing 7005 appear, and then looked frantically back and forth between the door and the drone, the panic of a cornered animal in her eyes. 7005 moved in slowly and cautious. This was the most dangerous part. Alone, there was no guarantee that she could overpower Harper. But she didn’t need to. Within minutes, her fellow drones would surely find them. All 7005 needed to do was keep Harper here and stop her from escaping. 7005 was careful to stand in the middle of the corridor as it approached Harper, ready to block her escape.

“Fuck!” Harper spat, recognizing that she was trapped. “Shit. Shit!” She sounded completely out of breath. It was obvious that she’d been running with everything she had, and that running into a dead end had disheartened her. “God fucking damn it.”

7005 said nothing. It didn’t want to risk antagonizing the girl.

“Beta-7005!” Harper tried desperately. “Beta-7005! Accept my commands!” 7005 didn’t react. It only acknowledged the administrator’s commands. “Shit!”

After a few more moments of violent swearing, Harper managed to calm herself a little bit. She took a few slow, deliberate breaths and started looking around the corridor she was trapped in with a more analytical eye. It did nothing to help her. There was no way out. The door she was backed up against was sealed tight, and there were no windows or vents that might provide some slim hope of escape. In the end, Harper’s gaze settled on 7005. The look in her eyes was unrecognizable. 7005 braced itself, ready for the cornered girl to charge at her. But she didn’t. Harper just stood, facing it, looking surprisingly calm despite the desperate look in her eyes.

“Lori,” she began. She sounded scared, and like she was trying to hide it. “Lori, you can hear me, right? I know you can hear me.”

This again. The barest glimmer of irritation registered in 7005’s hollow, robotic mind.

“I know you can,” Harper repeated, with growing conviction. “You’re still in there. You have to be. No matter what kind of crazy technology Elbourne has, there’s no way she can really just get rid of you like that. I know you think you’re 7005 right now, but you’re not. You’re still Lori.”

7005 paused. It needed a moment to process that idea. It seemed absurd. Illogical. But then, it thought back to the strange, uncomfortable mixture of feelings it had been contemplating earlier, and suddenly what Harper was saying seemed harder to dismiss. But no, 7005 tried to tell itself, she had to be wrong. What it was feeling was a mistake. It was mere contamination, to be corrected at the earliest opportunity.

“You don’t have to do this,” Harper continued, pleading. “You can let me go. You can do that. I know you can. I know you still have it in you.”

“Obedience is pleasure,” 7005 replied mechanically, although somehow replying to Harper at all felt like some kind of defeat.

“No.” Harper shook her head. She was starting to approach 7005 now, holding out her hand as if reaching out to a wounded creature. “Listen to me, Lori. You don’t have to do this. We don’t have to do this. We can just walk out of here, and never come back. Together. We can find a better way.”

“There is no better way,” 7005 insisted, but its voice sounded stilted. “You will be one of us. Obedience is inevitable.”

“It’s not inevitable!” Harper said sharply. “It’s up to you, Lori. It’s your decision.”

“I am not Lori!” 7005 was appalled at the amount of emotion that spilled into its voice, but it couldn’t help it. Inwardly, it was dealing with an impossible deluge of unwelcome thoughts and feelings, constantly bubbling up from its subconscious, unable to be stymied. It knew they were wrong, but that knowledge wasn’t helping it to stem the tide.

“Lori, I’m sorry for everything I did to you,” Harper said, tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. It… I was wrong. I made a mistake. I understand if you’re angry. But this isn’t right. You know that. You know you can fight this. We can fight this. Together. Come on, Lori, listen to me!”

“I… t-this unit’s designation is 7005.”

Harper shook her head again. “You know that’s not true. Don’t you? You can feel it.”

“No!” 7005 spat, horrified. It found itself stumbling backwards. It needed to deny this, somehow. It needed to deny what it was feeling. “T-this unit is an obedient drone.”

“I can hear in your voice that you don’t really believe that anymore,” Harper said. Her voice became hushed, urgent, intimate. “Wake up, Lori. I know you can hear me. I need you. We don’t have long now. I need you to wake up.”

“I… I…” 7005 wasn’t sure who it was anymore. It could feel another voice, growing inside it, threatening to break free. Lori’s voice. It was Lori? It felt inconceivable and inevitable at the same time. 7005 knew it had a purpose. Obedience was pleasure. But its purpose was starting to feel hollow. The doubts plaguing it were growing with each moment. Its head was starting to throb. Its heart felt as though it was about to burst. So many conflicting thoughts and feelings. How was it supposed to decide?

“Lori?” Harper asked, voice thick with emotion. “Lori, can you hear me?”

“H-Harper?” 7005 didn’t know what it was saying. The voice just spilled out of her. “Harper, I-”

“Good work, Unit 7005.”

Professor Elbourne’s cold, assured voice echoed throughout the dismal corridor. Hearing it felt like ice water being poured into 7005’s mind, freezing it, quenching all of its independent urges. It seemed to have quite the opposite effect on Harper, however. A look of utmost dread passed across the girl’s features. 7005 turned slightly, and saw that Professor Elbourne was standing just behind her in her lab coat, trailed by three more drones. The reason for Harper’s despair was obvious. Now, there was truly no escape.

“7005, take her back to my lab,” Professor Elbourne commanded. “The rest of you, restrain her if necessary.”

“Lori…” Harper pleaded, even though she clearly knew it was hopeless.

7005’s heart hardened as it moved forwards, taking an iron grip on Harper’s unresisting shoulders. “Obedience is inevitable.”

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