The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Rachel looked up at the clock that hung above the window at the command station. Only ten more minutes until her shift was over.

She breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a long night. Of all the tasks in the rotation, being on guard watch for the night was her least favorite. She preferred spending time in the hydroponics room, or the kitchen— even preferred being on cleaning duty and going through the entire compound by herself— to being on guard watch.

Guard watch was a necessary task in the rotation— in fact, it was probably the most important task, and it was really the entire reason for the compound to begin with. And guard watch wasn’t so bad, if you happened to catch the day-time shift in the rotation.

But the nighttime watch shift was the worst of the two. And though it always came around again, Rachel always dreaded it when it did.

There was only one prisoner to watch. But the compound had been built to contain her— and she was a dangerous captive. At night, Rachel felt painfully aware of this, when she was alone in the command booth. It was too close to the captive’s cell for comfort. The windows, which were just at eye level, looked out into the room which contained the glass cell. The booth itself had little else beside a switch board, a microphone, and a screen which provided optional angles on the woman in the cell, provided by some of the cameras on the ceiling and walls of the room on the other side of the windows.

Rachel looked back up to the clock. Only five minutes left now. She’d feel better when she was on the way back to her bunk to sleep. Still, she looked down, and through the windows to the cell.

The captive, Larissa, was sitting graceful on the edge of her bed, clasping her hands in her lap. As she often did, she was staring back through the windows at Rachel.

Larissa never slept as much as Rachel hoped she would. It was almost unnatural how little she slept— only ever two or three hours at the most. The rest of the time she mostly sat like that, drilling into Rachel with a stare like that. It made Rachel’s skin crawl.

Larissa didn’t have much of a life. There was a door on the wall inside her cell that let out into a greenspace, so she could walk outside in the sun. The greenspace was at the top of a clip that led to a plunge of several hundred feet to the ocean, and was boxed in by a fence. Occasionally Larissa would go and sit outside, or walk around that space.

There was also a second door, and a slight extension to the cell to give her a semblance of privacy for her bathroom. There was of course, a small camera in the bathroom and outside, on the exterior wall that looked out on the greenspace. And apart from Larissa’s strict, co-ordinated mealtimes (always delivered by the current guard on shift with two others as backup, called in specifically for the task) there wasn’t much else for her.

But Larissa didn’t seem to mind. Somehow, she kept the same level of poise about her person even in spite of her extreme restrictions. And she did have a remarkable force of will. Because most of her time was spent sitting on the edge of her bed, boring holes through the glass and through the window to whoever was so unlucky as to have been allotted the task of guarding her for their current shift. With a single minded determination.

Rachel supposed Larissa’s force of will made sense— it was the main reason she was locked up here. And though sometimes Rachel spent time musing on the extreme measures in place for keeping Larissa secure, she could never quite feel sorry for her. She remembered what Larissa had done.

Larissa was the kind of criminal slippery enough to stay out of the reach of the traditional judicial branch. But that was why organizations like Rachel’s existed. Sure, they were more spy than soldier, and more vigilante than lawful. But someone had to deal with the Larissas of the world. And they did— and they had.

They had tracked her for a long time, until they were able to capture her. She’d been running a series of conspiracies of control at the time, and had been for many years before they’d finally gotten hold of her.

Most people who practiced mind control had the decency to keep to a small group of targets and stay under the radar. Larissa had missed that memo— she’d been much more interested in establishing hierarchies and networks of control. And even a fully established network like that wasn’t enough for Larissa. She was never satisfied— always hungry to establish a second, or third, or fourth.

The networks were nasty pieces of work; reducing their victims to little more than faceless and mindless drones. The organization had spent a lot of time trying to deprogram said victims— Larissa had been captured over five years ago. Some of them were still programmed.

Rachel hadn’t been on the team who had finally captured Larissa; but Kate, one of the others on rotation at the compound, had. She liked to tell stories about the whole experience sometimes, if you happened to have a break with her.

Rachel thought her organization had done the right thing, and the smart thing. They’d captured Larissa, repurposed one of their existing underground compounds for her holding cell, and had assigned their 10 most trusted agents to run the compound, and rotate in and out of watching her. In the five and a half years Larissa had been prisoner, there had never been so much as a blip in the security record.

It was the right thing— Larissa would never quit her obsession of control, would never stop trying to establish new networks, never stop amassing power. If she were left free, no amount of power would ever satisfy her. She would always strive for more. A person like Larissa was capable of acquiring a truly frightening amount of power. Thoughts and fears of world domination were largely laughable and overly reductive, even in the espionage business— but Rachel thought a person like Larissa could really do it, if she had enough time.

Thank god she was secured in the cell.

Rachel looked up one more time. There was two minutes left in her shift.

She looked down at her end of shift checklist. All was checked except for one box— Rachel’s least favorite of all.

“Run through dialogue with captive.”

Rachel sighed.

The cell was entirely sound-proofed— and all sound escaping the cell was controlled by the “mute” and “unmute” settings on the switch board. It was policy that the cell be left muted at all times, apart from brief dialogues with the captive, which were carefully scripted for the guard. Even allowing a little unstructured time in which Larissa could speak was dangerous. They’d made that mistake once when they’d all started at the compound. Larissa had been left to speak for just five minutes with Sarah, before Kate had happened to catch her.

They’d had to send Sarah back to headquarters, and maintain the compound with just the nine of them. It had taken headquarters six months to deprogram five minutes of Larissa’s work.

After that they’d instituted their very strict mute/unmute policy.

Rachel reached for the control board, and pressed down on the “unmute” button.

“Hello, Larissa.”

Larissa did not shift from her position, or from looking at Rachel. “Hello, Rachel.”

“How have your sleeping habits been?”

“Normal,” Larissa answered.

“How have your eating habits been?”

“Normal,” Larissa answered.

“Have you had any strange symptoms lately?”

Larissa smiled that smile that always made Rachel uncomfortable. “No, Rachel.”

“Do you need to see the medic for any reason?”

Larissa smiled again, patiently. “No, Rachel.”

“Thank you, Larissa,” Rachel said, looking down to her checklist again. She ticked the last box— she had accomplished all necessary tasks of her shift, up to and including the concluding dialogue exchange.

Rachel reached for the “mute” button.

At that moment, the door opened behind her, and she turned. It was Kate, come to replace her.

“Forgive me,” Kate said, with her pleasant smile. It felt nice to be looking at a smile that didn’t chill Rachel to the bone. “I’m one minute early.”

“Forgive you?” Rachel laughed. “I could kiss you. I’ve been awake for twenty-four hours— I’m so tired I might fall asleep on the walk back to the bunk. Thank you for coming early.”

Kate shrugged. “You came early for me last week. Thought I could pay you back. Anything to report before I relieve you?”

Rachel looked back to Larissa for a minute. Oddly, Larissa’s grace seemed to have slipped away. She was sitting quite rigidly, as if she were afraid even to breathe. As if the simple act of breathing itself would break something.

That’s weird… the thought drifted through Rachel’s sleep fogged mind. Well, whatever Larissa’s problem was, Kate could deal with it now.

“No,” Rachel said, looking back to Kate. “Thanks again for coming early. I hope our breaks line up again soon— you owe me a card game.”

Rachel stood from the chair, and Kate seated herself in it. She laughed. “You got it. Sleep well.”

“I will,” Rachel said, over her shoulder. She opened the door to the hall, and stepped through, closing it behind her.

It was a small compound, just large enough for the ten of them to live in and run comfortably by trading off, so thankfully it was a quick walk back to the bunk. She eagerly pulled open the door to her shared room, but whoever had been on sleep shift had already woken up and left.

Rachel pulled her sleep clothes on quickly, and slipped herself into the lower bunk— she lacked even the energy to climb the ladder to the top one.

She was asleep almost as soon as she’d pulled the blanket up over herself.

Something was wrong.

Rachel sat up straight in her bunk, nearly hitting her head on the bunk above her. She still felt groggy from sleep— that was definitely wrong. She’d had an eight hour shift to sleep; usually when she woke up, she felt perfectly rested. The grogginess she felt now was the kind you got from over-sleeping. If she’d slept for her eight hour allotment, there was no way she’d be feeling groggy right now. Which meant she had overslept— which meant something was wrong.

Rachel scrambled to her feet, scrambling back into her clothes and out of her sleepwear. She fumbled for her watch in the dark, irrationally afraid in that moment to even turn on the light.

It was dark. There wasn’t even any ambient light from the hall to help her out, since all the doors where metal, and sealed tight when shut, since they were hooked in to the security system too.

But after her eyes adjusted to the darkness for a few seconds, she could just make out the watch’s clock face. It was times like this she missed having a cellphone; but members of espionage organizations couldn’t risk owning technology like that. Especially not members of espionage organizations who had been assigned to guard a jail cell.

She squinted at the watch, dropping to her knees as she did, and raising her hand to just below her eyes. There— she saw.

She had slept for fourteen hours straight.

Her blood chilled in her body. She stood again, shakily, trying to get her shallow breathing to deepen.

This didn’t happen. This never happened. They all had strict schedules to adhere to. Six hours ago, the next person on sleep shift should have come in and woken her up. They hadn’t. They had left her to sleep— what the hell had been going on in the compound for the past 14 hours that had caused everyone to abandon their schedule?

The only solution was to leave the bunk room, and go looking for the other members of the compound. They could explain it to her— maybe there had been an emergency, and they’d had to reassign shifts on the spot. An emergency that required nine pairs of hands— and they’d just left her to sleep.

It was hard to imagine an emergency that didn’t involve Larissa somehow.

Maybe the smarter plan of action would be to go to the surveillance room— the backup room which had camera footage of the entire compound, not just the cell. But it did have a second feed of the cell; Rachel could check, first, that Larissa was still secure.

She felt nervous about stepping into the hallway, and tried to talk herself out of the fear. She couldn’t entirely verbalize what she was afraid of— but that was because she couldn’t bring herself to imagine just how serious the situation might actually be.

Reluctantly, she opened the door, and stepped into the hall.

Her fear had been for nothing; no one was in sight. All the doors were closed, as normal. She took quick steps down the hall, grateful she hadn’t bothered putting her shoes back on. She felt safer making no noise just now.

The compound was basically just one hallway in the shape of a square, with rooms on the inside of the square, and rooms on the outside of the square, so it never took long to get anywhere. It was for that reason the ten of them had eventually agreed to streamline the rotation and eliminate foot patrol of the hall; so unless it was a shift change or a break, it wasn’t likely that Rachel would meet anyone in the hall. At six hours into a shift, it was almost unimaginable.

The surveillance imaging room was just five doors down from the bunk room, tucked right against one of the corners of the square. Rachel strode to it, and opened the door quickly.

She was disheartened by what she found.

The lights were on, but all the feeds were only static. There was no imaging for any space of the compound— so she couldn’t even figure out where her other nine companions were, let alone see if Larissa was still in her cell.

Rachel told herself not to panic— the feeds had gone down during thunderstorms before. There was nothing to be inherently afraid of: Larissa was in a cell, but Larissa’s cell was in a room that was shut up with an iron door, and multiple, non-tech locks. Just because the feeds were down didn’t mean Larissa was out. Those locks on that door were impossible to open from the inside. Headquarters had tested it by shutting their best lock-picks in there for extended periods. No one had been able to break out.

If the feeds were down, Rachel reasoned, the next best thing was to go to the communiqué room; the radio room. Hopefully, someone would be posted on shift there, but even if not, there was an operator’s log in there that might give Rachel some clue what had happened.

Rachel left the imaging room to its corner, and turned from the corner to continue down the next stretch of the hallway. She passed the medic’s room, briefly opening the door to look in, and the break room, checking in that one too, and then finally the kitchen, which she also stuck her head into, but each of the three rooms were empty.

It was hard to keep herself calm in the face of growing alarm. No one was at their posts— no one was on break, either. Where was everyone?

The door which was tucked into the opposite corner from the imaging room was the radio room. Rachel knocked this time, hopefully, but no one responded. She opened the door to find the chair in front of the radio empty.

She sat down, tuning into the radio. To her relief, there was still a signal. She tuned again to the channel that linked back to headquarters. There was little help they could offer—that was the downside to being hundreds of miles away from any kind of settlement— but they should at least be informed of this strange turn of events.

“Hello?” Rachel spoke. “Headquarters? Is anyone there?”

There was only silence on the line. She looked back to her watch, and then up to the posted schedule on the wall. Whoever was on radio duty was always provided with a schedule which came directly from headquarters which detailed their rotation. She looked back to her watch— just ten minutes after eight— then back to the schedule.

It was dinner break for the radio operator; for the next twenty minutes. There was a handwritten note beneath: no one else available to cover dinner.

Rachel sighed. It was the case sometimes that headquarters was a bit understaffed. It happened at Rachel’s own compound too. If people were sick, or unexpected problems arose requiring teams for technical repairs, sometimes it meant a post had to be left unmanned for a few minutes. It was just Rachel’s rotten luck that it had happened tonight.

She turned to the computer beside the radio— having both the computer and the radio made radio shift more bearable. You could be sending instant messages back and forth with the operator on the other side and talking to them at the same time. It was very useful for exchanging information and updates, and for the ten of them at the compound, receiving news of the outside world— but it was also a nice way to bond with the other operator.

Most members of the organization liked each other a lot; most of Rachel’s radio shifts had been positive for this reason. She had many pleasant memories of having personal conversations with fellow members on the other side. She sagged into the chair, realizing how alone she felt— what she wouldn’t have given for the operator to be there; they would have offered her some kind of reassurance if they had been, Rachel was sure.

Rachel scrolled the computer screen. The IM program was open— beside it, the compound’s log was open. The IM program had been updated much more recently— the last message sent at 8 pm, confirming what was scribbled on the wall. Leaving for dinner, back at 8:30 pm— apologize that no one was able to cover radio in my absence.

The last entry in the log was from 5 pm, but it had not been sent to the other operator. No one came to relieve me for dinner— leaving to find Kim; she was supposed to cover me ~ Hannah.

There had been regular entries in the log before that, but not in the IM window. Hannah had started shift at noon; she’d received updates from the operator, and given her own, and then excused herself from the chat. It looked like she’d only had a few sparse exchanges over the radio, too.

Everyone knew Hannah hated being on communiqué duty; she seemed to object to IMs on principle, and apart from truly vital information, didn’t really like spending hours making small-chat like some of the others did. So it had been a typical shift for Hannah until 5 pm, but she’d never come back from her search for Kim.

Obviously the operator on the other side hadn’t realized this, because Hannah hadn’t bothered messaging them that she was leaving. And three hours in which Hannah gave no communication was pretty typical for anyone who knew her— there would have been no reason for alarm for the other operator. They knew Hannah.

But there should have been another shift change at 8 pm, just when the operator had left for dinner; they wouldn’t realize anything was wrong until they came back at 8:30 pm, and realized no one had come to replace Hannah. But it was only twelve after now— Rachel couldn’t sit around for seventeen minutes and wait to explain.

At least, with the IM program, she could leave a message for when the operator got back. She quickly got to typing.

Rachel here, not Hannah. Wasn’t scheduled for radio duty. Woke up from sleep shift but couldn’t find anyone. Hannah not at post when I came in. Imaging feeds have gone to static. Leaving to try and find the others. ~ Rachel.

She hoped that was adequate.

Rachel stood, and left the communiqué room. She continued down the third stretch of the hallway, past the hydroponics room, the bathroom, the shower room, and the security room, which ran the security system of the compound; the room from which all doors could be made to immediately lockdown in case of emergency. The room with the PA system that could speak to the entire compound.

Rachel wasn’t going to bother with that room. She was maneuvering blind through this crisis— no point in making an announcement of herself when the situation was so risky.

There was no doubt in her now that everything had gone horribly wrong. This wasn’t just a thunderstorm, or some kind of plumbing leak or breakdown of equipment for the team to rally around. This was deeply, seriously wrong, possibly disastrous. There was one likely culprit, but the possibility that it all really was her doing terrified Rachel so much she couldn’t face it.

She felt in a state of shock, running on autopilot. She had complete tunnel-vision, complete single-minded focus. She would not, could not face the fourth stretch of the hallway which completed the square, as that was the stretch which held Larissa’s cell and the guard room. If Larissa’s cell was empty, Rachel knew she would completely break down.

So she returned to the break room. The shift rotation was always posted on the board in there; she could see who was supposed to be on which shift, and start looking for everyone one by one in that way.

She strode to the board, and began reading down the line. 8 pm— third shift. Hannah was supposed to leave the radio room for technical maintenance duty, Kim was supposed to be in the imaging room, Kate was on hydroponics, Francie was on sleep shift, Lena was covering the medic’s room, Jamie was in the kitchen, Denise was supposed to take over the radio room, Louise had a free shift, and Ella was supposed to be taking the guard room. And Rachel had been assigned cleaning duty.

It was like every other schedule had been a thousand times before. They had all sat down at the beginning of the week and decided what tasks needed priority in the week ahead. They had scheduled each shift for the entire week so that there was always someone on sleep shift, and someone on free time, and the other eight stationed at posts, with breaks specifically worked out so that two would take a break together at a time, and two would go to cover for them. They’d worked the scheduling and socializing and balancing of all tasks out to a science, like they had one hundred times before.

But this time, no one was at their post. Every room Rachel had looked in had been deserted.

She knew the imaging room was empty, she’d already checked. The medic’s room had been empty too, the radio room, and the kitchen. The bunk room had been empty when she’d left it, though it shouldn’t have been. She herself was supposed to be on cleaning duty, which after technical maintenance was the most mobile shift. In her wandering she had not crossed Hannah’s path.

She hadn’t looked in on the hydroponics, so she could double back to check. No one else was in the break room, even though that was where they all mostly spent their free shifts; in case whoever was on free was needed to bolster someone else’s post. That was nine out of ten shifts; that left only the guard shift.

She could check the hydroponics room, but if Kate wasn’t there, then Rachel had no option but to go back to the guard room and check for Ella.

And if she got there, only to find Larissa was missing… she’d have to steel herself and deal with it.

Rachel resolved to go back the way she’d been walking before, down the third stretch of the hallway, so she could check the hydroponics room for Kate on her way. Then she’d go down the fourth stretch, completing the square, and she’d step into the guard room, and face what needed to be faced.

But it was just at this moment, when Rachel had made herself a new action plan, that the door opened, and two figures stepped through it.

One was Kate, and one was Hannah. For a moment Rachel felt relief such as she had never felt in her life. She wanted to run to the two women, who, like the other seven, she considered close friends, and wrap them in the fiercest hug she could muster.

But that relief died in her when she took a closer look at them. Their expressions were blank: their eyes were glazed.

Rachel felt her stomach hollow out. There could be no more hiding, whether for the sake of her sanity or not. The truth of her situation needed to be faced.

Larissa had gotten free somehow, and Rachel was potentially the last one in the compound who was not under her control.

Kate and Hannah were walking calmly, but determinedly from the door and to where Rachel was standing. She shifted to back away from them, but if she kept going in that direction, they would corner her. She was making an emergency plan in the back of her mind as she kept pace with them.

All was not lost: if she could change positions so they were on the other side of her, and she was closer to the door, she could make the hallway, and then run to the security room, where she could put the base into emergency lockdown, and then get in contact with the radio operator at headquarters through the back channel that was in the security room. The base would have to be in lockdown for a few days, long enough for headquarters to come, pick up the nine who had been infected with Larissa’s control for deprogramming, and re-secure the base. But everything would still be okay— Rachel just had to get into the hallway.

She was kicking herself for not doing it before when she’d had the chance. If she had kept a better handle on her shock…

But it was going to be okay, Rachel reminded herself. She was almost there. Kate and Hannah had turned, always to keep facing her, and Rachel had managed to maneuver them around so she was most of the way to the door. She shifted again, and they followed her— she was directly in front of the door now. She backed slowly toward it, as they advanced towards her. One more step, and her back would be to it— she could open it, fall out into the hall, and immediately lock the door manually from the outside.

Except when her back should have hit the door, it didn’t.

The door was open, and she had backed into someone else.

She felt her heart jump into her throat, but she prayed— she prayed as she turned around that it wasn’t—

“Larissa,” fell from her mouth as she saw the woman in question.

“Rachel,” Larissa said, in that same overly friendly tone that always chilled Rachel through. “How nice to see you again— it’s been longest since I’ve last seen you, not since six this morning. I’ve seen all the rest of your friends since then, but not you. I’ve… missed you.” That harrowing smile again.

Rachel swallowed, and allowed her instincts to completely seize control of her body. She pounced, bodily forcing her way past Larissa and into the hall, not bothering to turn and lock the door, because the only hope now was that she could sprint fast enough. She’d made the hall— she was making it— she would make it—

She realized she wasn’t moving anymore.

Two other sets of hands had seized her by the arms— the hall hadn’t been empty.

She looked up, blearily, to see who held her.

Ella had her by one arm; Louise by the other. Each wore identical expressions to match Kate’s and Hannah’s.

Rachel swallowed again, keeping a tight grip on her fear as the two of them dragged her back into the break room. Larissa closed the door behind them.

“Sit cross-legged on the floor, Rachel,” Larissa instructed. She’d already taken one of the chairs from the break table and placed it in front of the door. She seated herself in it, and crossed her legs.

Rachel did not. She would not give this woman an inch. But when she refused, her defiance meant nothing. Ella and Louise shoved her roughly to the ground.

“Either way,” Larissa said, with a shrug. “A shame none of the ten of you smoked— I must admit, the hardest part of my captivity these last five years has been my forced detoxing from tobacco. This would be the perfect time for a celebratory cigarette.”

Rachel said nothing. It was important not expose any vulnerability to this woman— important not to give her any information at all, because she had the uncanny ability to turn the most mundane detail into a weapon. She would remain silent, she would resist any attempts at control that Larissa made, she would outsmart her somehow, and still make it to the security room.

The whole compound, all her closest friends, potentially her entire organization— depended on it.

Rachel repositioned herself on the floor, so she was sitting with her head held high. She would resist even to the smallest detail. During this time, Louise and Ella had stepped behind Larissa, each one standing on one side of the door.

She heard Kate and Hannah stepping up behind her, each one to one side of her. She and Larissa were both boxed in by the four standing woman, and she and Larissa were alone in the middle of the square the other four had blocked out with their bodies.

She doubted Larissa felt as trapped as she did— after all, she’d put the four of them there.

“Where are the others?” Rachel asked, stalling for time. It would be useful information, at least, if— when she got away.

“I’ve got them reinforcing their programming together. Don’t worry about them, now. You’ll see them soon. This time is for the two of us to catch up.” Larissa put one arm on the chair’s arm rest, and leaned her head against her hand, considering Rachel with that stare that could bore through glass windows. “Rachel, Rachel, Rachel.” She said. Rachel hated the sound of her name in the other woman’s mouth.

“I’m sure you realize the futility of your situation— there are two guards behind me, and two guards standing over you. You will not rise from your position until I instruct you to. But there’s no need to rush that— we’ve got as much time as we need.”

Rachel remained silent. She was holding onto her nerves with everything she had. Even so, she could not stop her heart from racing.

Larissa tilted her head, further considering her. “Your pupils are blown wide— you’re flushing. Are you… afraid… of me, Rachel?” Her voice lilted in amusement.

Admission would be dangerous: the only safety was in silence. But Larissa ignored Rachel’s lack of response, and kept speaking. “Why would you be afraid of me, Rachel? What can I really do to you, besides talk? And what’s the worst that can really happen to you if you listen? You control what you do and don’t pay attention to… I have no control over that. Really. What is there to be afraid of? What harm can a little talking… a little listening… really do?”

Larissa was already starting her trick; sending out the first campaign for control. She had that strange lilting cadence in her speech, and the ends of her questions turned too far up into the higher register of her voice. Somehow she managed to lace a trace of disdain and judgement through each word, even so.

The sum total of all this was that it made Rachel feel disoriented, like her mind was on a slant, or the world around her was. Parts of her wanted to agree with things Larissa had said. This early, that was a very bad sign. It was true that she could control what she paid attention to, and what she didn’t, so hypothetically there was nothing for Rachel to fear; except the evidence around her.

In fourteen hours, Larissa had gotten all nine women in the compound under her control; the four standing in a square, boxing Larissa and Rachel in together were proof enough of that. What Rachel really had to fear was becoming glassy-eyed and expressionless like they were— like the other missing five, who were off “reinforcing” at this very minute.

She wouldn’t allow it to happen, she promised herself. She chose one thought to hold on to, to keep her grounded through whatever other disorientation Larissa tried to throw her way.

Her friends and her organization were counting on her to save everything. She wouldn’t let them down.

It helped her mind to stabilize.

“I must admit, I’m glad you’re the last one,” Larissa went on, speaking again. “I always got the sense that of all ten, you disliked me most strongly. And I always got the sense that you feared me most strongly. I could see it, just in the way you used to sit so tensely at the guard desk. I could see it in the tension you held in your shoulders— in the way you sagged into place at the beginning of a shift. I think, of all ten of you, you will be the most fun to break. I left you for last intentionally, Rachel. It’s been a long time since the process of control was fun for me. I think you will be fun.”

Rachel felt her stomach flip, as if she might vomit onto the break room floor. She swallowed her nausea back down. How she despised this woman— but to be at her mercy was intolerable. She felt as if bugs crawled under her skin, as if her skin was trying to slip off her body to get away from Larissa’s eyes, which were still on her, boring in.

“I’m not counting my years in captivity into that figure,” Larissa went on, in that lilting tone. “I haven’t been able to exercise any control during that time. But I mean, even before— in the years before my capture. It wasn’t fun anymore. So few understood what I was capable of; so few truly feared me. It’s most fun to break a fearful subject— someone who knows exactly what you are, and what you can do. I haven’t had one like you for a long time.”

Rachel felt the impulse in her body to cry. Her fear had gone beyond racing heartbeat, beyond flushing skin, beyond nausea. It could only manifest as tears burning in her tear ducts, now, but she wouldn’t allow herself to cry. She was sat so rigidly still, trying to block all evidence of her inner state, but she couldn’t. Larissa knew she was afraid; knew how afraid she was.

But Rachel could hold back the tears. It was one small mercy.

“The other nine were easy,” Larissa went on, her voice knocking Rachel’s mind off balance again with her tone. Rachel held onto her thought. They’re counting on me. I won’t let them down, and she felt a little stronger. “I caught them all off guard, and they fell to my power so easily. All that training you all did— all the drills— and for what?” Larissa voice dripped in judgement again, and the thought came to Rachel so easily — it was all for nothing, it was futile, there was no point, there is no point — and Larissa hadn’t even told her to think it yet.

Rachel fought that thought back. I won’t let them down, and the other thought receded.

“But you were ready for me— you were on high alert. Even now, all your defences are up. I couldn’t have caught you off guard like I did them. You’re too hyperaware of me for that. Even Kate, one of the team who actually took me captive— she was never as afraid of me as you are. Perhaps the other nine should have been more fearful, like you— more fearful, and less trusting. None of them tried to make a break for the security room like you did when things started going wrong; and I’ll admit, if I hadn’t brought two others as back-up, your plan would likely have worked.”

Rachel felt dizzy from Larissa’s voice— so many words, rambling on, going nowhere… but she reoriented herself with her own mental marker. She was starting to believe maybe she really could come out of this. It was a wave that would crash over her, and leave her in its wake. Larissa was really dialling up the intensity in her voice, making a more open attempt to get control of Rachel. But it wasn’t working— as long as Rachel had her marker, it wouldn’t work.

“If you’re wondering how I know so much about you, about the set-up of the compound here, I will relieve your curiosity, and leave you to your admirable attempt at self-protection.”

Rachel shivered at Larissa’s tone.

“There’s a lot one can learn from conversations at shift change, overhead from the guard room. And once I seized control of the other nine completely, it was easy to fill in the gaps. And I always was skilled at reading people, guessing their thoughts. It’s a necessary skill in my line of work— and I got best at reading you, out of all the rest, because your hatred and fear of me was so clear in your body language.”

With each word, Larissa knocked at the defences of Rachel’s mind, breaking them down, breaking in, turning everything upside down, throwing Rachel’s inner world to chaos. But each time, Rachel reemerged, holding on to the only thought that mattered— the only thought she had left. And she remained Rachel— out of the reach of Larissa’s control.

“You are holding up remarkably well,” Larissa praised, drawing Rachel’s attention back. “I had hoped you would. The others fell so quickly… just a little modulation of the pitch of my voice… is often enough to do it. But you’ve got stronger defences then they did— your fear makes you stronger, arms you against me. You know what a threat I am. You know what I’m capable of. You know what will happen if you fail, and it strengthens you— you are the only thing standing between me, and what I want. And if you fail, I will be free to do all that you know I’m capable of. I must say, it is quite satisfying to be so understood.”

Rachel was running her last thought on a loop in her mind. Running it on a loop that circled her, as she held it also in her hands. The words Larissa spoke were skimming the surface of her mind, leaving no residue. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter, even if some of them were slipping through and sinking in deep; she had her marker to hold on to. It was becoming like a new core of her self; as long as she had that, nothing else mattered.

“I mentioned before how few understood me, in those pre-captivity days. When you run hierarchies of control that you’ve built and programmed yourself, none in the hierarchy fear you, or understand you— and eventually you can pass the dirty task of adding to the lower tiers down to others lower than you in stature. And anyone else you recruit just for fun, or any other additional hierarchies of control that you start always begin with those who are oblivious to the danger you pose them. Apart from that organization of yours, very few have ever understood just how dangerous I am.”

Rachel kept holding the thought in place. It was like armor rising up from inside her, now grown large enough that she could step behind it, surrounded by it, like it was a solid wall. And Larissa’s words only glanced off the outsides of it; the entire world, everything in her mind could slant and break and flip, and it didn’t matter. The thought surrounding and guarding her now kept her completely steady.

“It has been refreshing to feel that recognition in you, but it will be your downfall in the end. That end is not quite yet, but you will fail. You’ll capitulate to my control, like all the rest; though you have held out against me longer than anyone I’ve ever encountered. Be proud of that, when you do fail. You will fail, and I’ll tell you how it’s going to be after that.

“I’m not going to leave this compound— why should I, when it is a more well-defended headquarters than I could ever have paid money for? We’ll all stay here, safe as houses. The ten of you will play routine as always; put on the face of normalcy for your contacts back at the organization. And we’ll work, slow and steady, together, with every return to headquarters, every bimonthly delivery and face to face in person conference to slowly overtake your organization one person at a time.”

Rachel wasn’t hearing it. It didn’t matter; it was irrelevant. None of this was going to happen. She was going to resist— she was going to succeed. She’d never felt surer of anything. Absurdly, she had never felt safer in her life.

“I’ll spread like a rot through it— but patiently. One contact at a time, until the organization is mine; and then I can go back to the work I enjoy, establish other networks of control outside it; but with no one interfering with me… my greatest enemy and threat made little more than my puppet. And you’re going to help— you’re going to give me the key to all this, simply by surrendering to my control.”

Rachel was listening again— carefully. Here was her chance. She could fake it— fake it, escape this room, and make it to the security panel. She paid close attention.

“You’re ready, now, Rachel. I’ve worn you down, destabilized you. It’s time. It’s time for you to give in to me, completely, so we can get started on this very important task.”

Rachel was mentally nodding, waiting for her opening— any second— any second—

“You’re mine, Rachel,” Larissa said, and Rachel seized it.

“I’m yours,” she echoed, falsely.

“You’ll do anything I say,” Larissa added.

“I’ll do anything you say,” Rachel repeated. This was really going to work— so close— she just needed Larissa to trust she was in control; just needed Larissa to send her on a task.

“Stand,” Larissa said.

Rachel stood.

“Before you came back in here, you told the operator at headquarters that something was wrong. You will go, alone, and tell them something to alleviate their concerns. Whatever is most convincing. Go now.”

Rachel stood, keeping her face perfectly blank.

She was just to the door, just behind Larissa’s chair when Larissa spoke again— “And you’re doomed.”

Rachel did not freeze. Did not react. The door was opening; she would keep up the act. It didn’t matter why Larissa had said that. This time, she had a clear trajectory to victory.

“Rachel,” Larissa said. “It was your fault.”

It happened too fast. The only thing that had sustained her; given the power to stand, the power to walk, the power to resist, shattered around her, and she found herself fallen into the sea of confusion the thought had held at bay before. She was awash— up was down, the world was tilting and slanting and shifting around. It was impossible to hold onto anything; she was disoriented; she was confused— she had been returned to the center of the floor in front of Larissa.

“You think I can’t tell when someone is pretending, with me? Especially you. Were you not listening when I told you I could read your body language better than the rest of the nine? Although it was fun to play with you that little bit; to see you hoping for your escape. But I only gave you my preamble. I hadn’t even made the final move for control yet. Your defences were good, Rachel, but they couldn’t stand up to the truth. You could hold on in the face of fear; even be bolstered by it. But I think I understand you as well as you understood me; you cannot do the same in the face of guilt.”

Rachel’s stomach was heaving. The room seemed to be spinning around her. But the words from Larissa’s mouth were on a direct line to her brain, searing their way in with their intensity.

“It was your fault,” Larissa repeated. “You were the most vigilant, the most afraid, and yet it was your mistake that doomed all those you care for, all that you respect. Your mistake that doomed yourself. When you changed shifts with Kate, because Kate came one minute early— because Kate entered the guard room at 5:59 am instead of 6:00— you forgot to press the mute button.”

Larissa spoke it, and Rachel knew it was true. She remembered checking the box on the checklist, remembered reaching for the switch— but she had never pressed it. The door had opened behind her, and she had turned away.

And then in her sleep deprived state, she had forgotten to tell Kate.

There was nothing that could save her now. She couldn’t hold onto the thought that had broken around her — They’re all counting on me. I won’t let them down. — because she had let them down. Larissa had been set free because of her thoughtless mistake.

“I got Kate in less than ten minutes,” Larissa went on. “I talked her out of pressing the mute button herself in under a minute. The rest after her were easy, spread out across the 14 hours you slept to prevent suspicion. And now, I’ll have you. You’re the last; and I’ll take the rest of your organization one at a time, as slowly as it needs to happen, to prevent suspicion. When you’ve got your fish in a barrel, you don’t need to shoot them all at once.”

Rachel tried, really tried to rise up out of the confusion one last time. But there was nothing to grab hold of— nothing to steady her, to ground her, to shield her from the power of Larissa’s voice.

“It’s time to go under for me, Rachel,” Larissa said. “And you’ll never come up again. Then, the real work can begin. Counting back from five now— at one, you’ll drop nice and deep for my programming. And all the fear, the guilt and confusion can stop. Won’t that be nice? Though you really should be proud of the fact you held out against me so long; I doubt anyone else will ever break your record. Here we are, Rachel: five, four, three, two… one.”

There was silence in Rachel’s mind; all chaos was quieted. All confusion was dispelled. And Rachel was falling… falling into darkness…

And then she knew no more.