The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

The warm soothing shower water rained down around Lacie, slowly relaxing her, letting the scent of lilac and lavender sooth her, and wash away the tension as well as the dirt. Soft hands gripped her breasts, squeezing them firmly but gently, thumbs nimbly circling the nipples causing them to jut out into hard pink peaks. She sighed softly, laying her head against the cool wall tiles, closing her eyes, letting soft tender flesh work out all the knots and kinks, letting the worries of the world drift away, at least for the moment.

It’s not fair, she thought for the umpteenth time. No matter what I do... no matter what choice I make, everything turns out wrong. The more I help, the more everyone bitches and complains about my ‘interfering’... but I only do what no one else does... what no one else CAN do! She sighed. Even other Super Heroes are turning against me now. You’d think they would support what I’m doing... that at least SOME of them would go to the media and make a public statement in support of me. It’s not like I’m going into other countries and bombing hospitals or anything!

“Shhh. Relax, hon,” a soft feminine voice whispered in her ear, tweaking a nipple for emphasis. “You’re tensing up again, and undoing all the good I’m doing massaging you.”

Lacie sighed, forcing herself to relax. “Sorry, Del. I just... have a lot on my mind at the moment.”

“And that is part of the problem right there,” Delila admonished, leaning closer, nibbling lightly on her ear. “You brought me here to help you relax, and I FINALLY get you naked in the shower, aromatherapy oils simmering and soft music playing in the background... and you are still thinking about work.”

Sliding her own soap covered body against Lacie’s, she murmured softly, “Right now, you should be thinking about me. Let’s see if I help to change your mind.”

Groaning softly, distracted for the moment from his worries, Lacie turned around, facing her lover. Eyes half-lidded, she kissed the tall thin redhead, parting her knees gently as Del slid a soap covered hand in between, eliciting another soulful moan. She pulled back for a moment, panting, staring deep into Delila’s eyes. A soft pale yellow light glowed dimly from behind those eyes, an after-effect of the mental tampering she’d used on the pretty masseuse to get her here. She closed her eyes, pressing her lips back to Delila’s letting herself melt again, forcing the image of her eyes, and the guilt behind it, from her mind.

Even if she had forced Delila there against her will, right now, for the moment, she needed to feel loved.

“We need more water over here!”

Lacie turned towards the sound, gazing down from high above the New York City skyline. A few hundred yards away a building burned, the flames resisting the best efforts of the city’s firefighters to put them down. A large number of people were being ushered away from the building and taken to the EMT’s, being treated for smoke inhalation. Briefly, she considered swooping down and simply dowsing the fire from above, but remembering the fiasco in Brazil she decided to fly down and speak to the firefighters personally first.

“Hey, look! It’s Omega Girl,” the crowd shouted as she descended, landing lightly in front of the closest fire truck. The response was mixed at best; a few of them openly cheered her appearance, some of them mumbled, while others outright booed, yelling at her to go back where she’d come from. Each slant against her tore into her heart, hurting her deeply, but she hid the pain behind the facade, striding over to the fire chief as if nothing were wrong.

“Looks like you have a situation here,” she said lightly, gesturing to the raging inferno. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Oh? So you’re ASKING if you can help instead of simply BARGING IN and taking care of everything yourself?” the hose man questioned. “That IS how you generally operate, isn’t it?”

“Look,” Lacie said patiently, gritting her teeth, “I’m just asking if you’d like some help with this fire. If you have everything under control just say so. I’m sure there are other people out there who could use my help—”

“Yeah, whether they want it or not,” another firefighter said loudly, causing others to chuckle.

Sighing deeply, she turned away. “Alright then. I’ll assume you have everything under control. I guess I’ll be off. Good day, gentlemen.” She prepared to leap skyward once more, but the fire chief touched her arm.

“Wait! Hold on a second.” Glaring at the other firefighters, he continued. “Okay. We not exactly your biggest supporters right now, as a whole. We all watch the news. But... you’re here. You CAN help us out here. We managed to clear out most of the people trapped on the sixth floor, but we had to pull out before we had the chance to fully check the seventh and eight floors. The fire’s spread faster than expected, and even though we’re giving it everything we’ve got, we can’t seem to clear a path back up again.”

Lacie nodded. “Got it. I’ll fly up and check it out. If anyone’s trapped up there, I’ll fly them out. If its all clear, I’ll see what I can do to help get the fire itself under control. Either way, you should probably pull your people back as far as possible, just in case.”

Not waiting for a response, she leapt airborne again, circling the exterior of the building, searching, scanning, and listening for any signs of someone in trouble. Hmmmm... wait. THERE! It’s faint, but... there. Again. Someone coughing. Leaping in through a shattered window, she began yelling loudly.

“HEY! Is anyone there? I’m here to rescue you! If you can hear me, cry out, so I can find you!”

Nothing. Then, the sound of more coughing. Stepping carefully through the burning building, she made her way through a burned-out wreck of a room, coughing a little herself, ignoring the heat and smoke, merely focusing, concentrating on finding the person trapped in the middle of the blaze. “Hang on! I’m coming!” she yelled, bursting through the half-charred remains of a bedroom door. Just inside the room, a form lay on the floor, covered by a heavy leather trenchcoat. More coughing came from underneath; miraculously, the person was still alive.

“Don’t worry,” Lacie said, kneeling down, reaching for the huddled form. “I’m getting you out of here. You’re gonna be okay.”

“Oh, I know that, Omega Girl,” Alexander Kline crowed triumphantly, tossing away the coat, standing up straight. “Believe me. I’m not worried.”

Lacie gasped, taking a step back. “Kline? Wh... what? What the hell are YOU doing here? What’s going on?”

Laughing, he shook his head. “Still as slow on the uptake as usual, hmmm? I’ve been waiting here for you to show up, so we could have a little chat. Got the idea from some movie that came on cable last night.” He sighed. “Frankly, I was beginning to get bored. I about to leave and set fire to ANOTHER building, but luckily you showed up just in the nick of time.”

Lacie blinked, incredulously. “You mean to tell me you set this building on fire, then sat here, waiting for me to show up?!? Are you insane?”

“Not at all. Believe it or not, this was all scripted out well in advance of your arrival. Free will is, after all, just an illusion.” He gestured with his metallic limb. “You are here, after all, just as predicted.”

Scowling, Lacie powered up, raising a glowing hand towards him. “And now that I’m here, Kline, I’m going to make you wish you’d stayed in the Midas City prison where I’d left you!” She fired her Omega Beam from point blank range... only to have it disperse inches from making contact.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Omega Girl. Or... should I say Dark Star, hmm?” Kline replied, shaking his index finger. “Always so predictable. And by the way, the name is Chrome now.” He pointed his chrome covered arm to Lacie, firing an energy pulse that sent her to her knees in pain. “As you can see, I’m not the same as I once was. I’ve been ‘upgraded’, so to speak.” He laughed again. “A dear friend of mine replaced the arm you crushed when you stopped me last time with something a bit more... durable.”

Lacie shook her head to clear it. Whatever he’d hit her with had packed quite a wallop. “Chrome, hmm? Great. Just great. Give a penny-ante bank robber with delusions of grandeur a metallic robot arm, and suddenly he thinks he’s a supervillain.” She rose back to her feet. “Fine. If you’re spoiling for a fight—”

“Wait, wait, hold your horses,” Chrome said with a grin, holding up both hands in supplication. “While I WOULD love the chance to test my ‘mettle’ against you, I’m here on business. As I said, I came to TALK.” He coughed lightly. “And we should probably do it fairly quick. This isn’t the exactly the ideal environment for business meeting.”

He’s right on that much, Lacie thought furiously. How in the HELL is he handling this heat? I mean, at best he was a low level psychic, with just enough power to pluck security passwords and the occasional bank account numbers from a passerby’s mind. How could he be just standing there, so calm and composed, while the building burns around him?

“First of all,” he continued after a moment, “I’ve been following your career as of late. You’re doing your usual bang-up job stopping evildoers, defending the weak and defenseless, righting wrongs, yadda yadda yadda... and yet, for all your hard work, you’re basically an outcast from society. It won’t be long before the powers that be in the government call for your head, deciding you’re too much of a threat, that you’re simply ‘too dangerous’ to be allowed to come and go as you please.”

“So you’ve been watching CNN,” Lacie shot back. “Good for you. Get to the point.”

“The POINT, my dear Dark Star, is that you should give up the good fight. No one needs you anymore. No one WANTS you. You’ve given up EVERYTHING you hold dear in order to play hero—your family, your friends. Your child.” Lacie’s eyes flashed, and he held up a warning hand once more. “Hey, don’t blame the messenger for the message. I’m just speaking the truth about things that have already happened. And I’m only bringing this up so you’ll consider your choices in the future.”

“I see. So... you set this building on fire and put hundreds of people’s lives in jeopardy, just so you could speak to me about my future as a superheroine. And all for my own benefit, too, I suppose.”

Chrome laughed. “I’ve always loved your dry sense of humor. And no... not JUST for your benefit. Let’s call it... mutually beneficial. While I don’t personally care one whit whether you take my advice or not, my... Employer would be very happy to see you hang up your cape once and for all.”

Moving in a flash of speed, Lacie charged at him, swinging a fist at his chin. Instead of flesh, her hand struck a force field of some kind, harmlessly deflecting the blow inches before it could connect. “Damn you!” she snarled, swinging again and again, battering at the force field in a fury of swings while Chrome watched, still as calm, composed, and in control as before. He waited until she finally stopped swinging, then nodded.

“Exactly what He said your reaction would be...” He glanced around. “Well, at any rate, you can’t say I didn’t try. Things are only going to get harder for you from now on. If you think you’ve been alone before, just wait a few days. Even those few friends of yours that STILL believe in you won’t be so eager to support you once they see what happens next.” He turned, as if to walk away.

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!?” Lacie screamed in frustration. “Do you think my life if some kind of game?”

Chrome paused, then turned, grinning again. “Ah hah! An excellent and unexpected question. As a matter of fact, my dear Dark Star, this is very much a game to me. You’re playing for very high stakes in a game you’re not even fully aware of. You don’t have a prayer of winning. The only option you have at this point is to resign, to just give up.” His smile faded. “Of course, we both know you won’t do that. You never surrender. SUBMIT? Oh yes. With the right dominant calling the shots, you’ll submit easily enough. But surrender? Not a chance in hell.”

“Chrome!” Lacie yelled, reaching out to grab his arm. Just then, the fire weakened roof collapsed, raining fiery debris all around her. She gasped, jerking back in surprise, blinking... and when her eyes opened again, she was standing alone in the center of a normal room. The walls were solid and whole, untouched by fire. A glance upward showed the ceiling to be whole as well. She touched a hand to the wall’s surface. It was cool to the touch.

What... is going on here? Did I just imagine all of this? Am I hallucinating? No... I am here in this room, and I really DID have a conversation with Alex Kline. The fire trucks outside are certainly real... and I can still hear their sirens even from inside. Hmmm. Maybe, it was an illusion of some kind... a really really realistic illusion? That has to be it. If he had just placed the idea that this building was burning in my head, then the entire fire department wouldn’t have been called out to try and put it out.

She opened the window, and climbed out, hovering as she surveyed the damage. The fire trucks were, indeed, still below, firefighters milling around as they began loading their equipment back up. The building itself had been burned, but the damage was much less than expected.

I’d be willing to be it both... real AND illusion. He must have set enough of a fire to do damage, something that the fire department could put out easily, but THEN created the illusion that the fire was continuing to rage, even after they’d put it out. The fire chief DID say that it was strange, that no matter how much water they kept throwing at it, it wasn’t having any effect. It was all a show... a way of drawing me here to the scene so he could have his little ‘talk’.

Landing this time, Lacie was greeted with a much difference response. This time, the crowd cheered as a group, some of them even clapping and applauding. “Omega Girl, thank you! Excellent job,” the fire chief said, stepping forward. “I don’t know what you did in there, but whatever it was, it worked. Thank you, again.”

Nodding softly, saying nothing, Lacie flew off for the clouds again. The crowd’s praise failed to lift her spirits; instead, she felt worse, plagued with guilt over not actually having done ANYTHING worthy of their praise, which sounded oddly hollow in the face of their earlier jeering. They’d been fooled, just as completely as she had, and she’d let them go on being fooled as to the outcome.

And its not even over, she thought miserably. He was pretty clear on that point. A storm’s brewing on the horizon, heading straight for me. And I know Alex Kline. He’s shifty, he’s crafty, but he’s no mastermind. Whoever is pulling his strings, this so called ‘Employer’ of his... he’s the real threat. And when he finally reveals himself, something tells me its going to be one hell of a heavy blow.

I just home I’m not facing the wrong direction when it finally comes.

“...which is EXACTLY why I’m so adamant about the passing of this bill,” Senator Wellsley announced, rising to his feet. “Now, I realize that not EVERY Super Powered being out there is planning on going rogue. I mean, most of our country’s heroes—and those of our neighboring countries, of course—have set a precedent for being more than willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of public. One might even go so far as to say, it goes with the territory. This bill is designed to help protect us, the non-powered majority, from those few who would abuse their powers, and use them AGAINST us.”

“Hon, just change the channel,” Delila chided, working her fingers deep into the tense muscular flesh of Lacie’s thighs. “Lying here, scowling at the television isn’t helping anything. I told you before: when you’re out THERE, keep your head in the game... but when you’re back here, you need to let it go.”

Lacie’s eyes fluttered, relaxing under Del’s talented hands despite herself. “You... mmmmmm... make it ssssssound soooo... easy,” she slurred softly. “Having you here... helps.” She pushed aside a pang of guilt. “It really does. Even so... I can’t completely forget about what’s going on out there.” She gestured to the television. “The senate is trying to pass a bill to regulate everyone with Super Powers! Because of me, this asshole is trying to forward his own agenda to get us all bagged and tagged... so that if anyone does something they don’t like, they can simply press a button and WHAM!“

She sighed heavily. “It’s bound to cause more conflict. I can’t imagine anyone I know going along with something like that. Anyone willing to put themselves under direct supervision would basically give up their anonymity, the greatest asset in what we do!”

Del nodded, moving her hands down to Lacie’s calves. “Not to mention that there’s always a chance for some unscrupulous person might come into power, gain a high enough position in the whatever governmental branch would be over them, and use them to his own ends.”

Wincing slightly as knots slowly unfolded, Lacie nodded. “You... understand things... better than I thought... aahhhh... but it still... doesn’t help me decide what to do... about the situation. If it comes to a head, which I’ve been given good reason to suspect it will... if I refuse to go along with the new regulations... what will they do? How far will it go?”

“Thank you very much, Senator Wellsley. I will now open the floor up to question. Does anyone else have something they wish to add?”

“Yes, Mr. Chairman,” a feminine voice spoke from off camera. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

Lacie jerked up suddenly, nearly sending Del off the bed. “Wait. I know that voice.” Grabbing the remote, she turned up the volume. As she watched, the camera panned quickly to the side, showing a brightly costumed woman standing in the middle of the senate. As she raised a hand high above her head, a small light formed, glowing brighter and brighter as it rose, hovering several feet above the middle of the room. The woman snapped her fingers, and the light began to pulse rapidly, mimicking a psychedelic strobe light. Alarmed voices of panic subsided almost instantly, as the entire senate found themselves tranced, mesmerized by the flashing light show.

“And now, Senator,” the woman said loudly, grabbing Wellsley by the arm, pulling him to his feet, “let’s go somewhere and discuss this new legislation you’re trying to shove down our throats.”

“Shit!” Lacie cried, barely managing to tear her eyes away from the screen. “Of all the places and times for Strobe to show back up. I’ve got to go after her. I don’t even want to think about what she’s doing to that poor bastard’s unprotected mind right now.” Standing up, she gestured slightly, and a dark pool of inky blackness under her feet slowly crept up her naked body, reforming into her very familiar black costume.

Glancing at Delila, staring avidly at the television, she sighed deeply. Well, it was nice while it lasted. Focusing on the small bubble of energy still coursing through Del’s mind, she popped it, dispersing it harmlessly throughout her neural network. Delila gasped, twitching slightly as her pleasure center peaked, cumming hard enough to send her into dreamland. Looking down at her sleeping form, Lacie hovered, considering whether or not to give her a last parting kiss... then with a sigh, turned away. Blackness pooled around her face, forming a small black eye mask, and she likewise hardened her resolve, and her heart.

Its time to go to work, she thought grimly, as she headed to the balcony.

“That’s it, Senator,” Strobe said with an evil grin. “That’s a good boy. Just keep following the pretty lights.”

The Senator gurgled slightly, drool sliding down his chin as he continued forward along the small ledge on the roof of the capital building. The small floating light danced playfully before his eyes, enticing him as deeply as it had entranced him. Heedless of the danger, he walked steadily forward, a vacant smile plastered across his ruddy features. “Sooo... pretty...”

“Yes, you’re right on the edge now, Senator,” Strobe replied with satisfaction. “Now, do us all a favor and take one more small step for super powered beings everywhere... and one GIANT leap to the pavement below.”

Stepping forward obediently, the Senator lurched forward, over the edge... right into Lacie’s waiting arms. Floating back up to the roof, she dropped him back onto solid ground, then turned to face her enemy. “So, tell me Strobe,” she said conversationally, as she pointed a glowing hand at her, “is it just a coincidence that the last time we crossed paths it ended up with a showdown on a roof? Do all of Janet Michaud’s minions have some kind of fixation with roofs, or is it just me?”

“Well, well, look who decided to show up at the last minute to save the day,” Strobe replied with a shake of her head. “You know, Omega Girl, if it wasn’t for all the crazy shit you’ve been pulling the past several months I wouldn’t have needed to show up here and put old Senator ‘Waddlesworth’ here in his place! I’m here cleaning up YOUR mistake... or maybe you’d rather the Senator lived to push that idiotic bill of his through, and have us all registered, IDed, and completely under some fat bureaucrat’s control?”

“No. I don’t,” Lacie said vehemently. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stand by and watch as you make him skydive headfirst into the pavement.”

“Sorry, sweetness,” Helen replied, sending out a barrage of laser light blasts at Lacie, “but I’m not going to give you the chance to do anything about it.”

Expecting the attack, Lacie extended her Omega Field, deflecting the blasts, and countered with several blasts of her own. “Give it up, Strobe. You know you can’t take me. As long as I don’t get caught up in your psychedelic light show, you can’t touch me.”

“Oh, really?” Helen replied, running back towards the roof’s stair access, firing behind her back. “As I recall, the last time we went at it, you ended up lying facedown on the pavement, drooling all over my boots.” She reached for the door handle, only to be jerked back, hard, by the hair.

“As I recall,” Lacie snarled, twisting Helen’s hair painfully, “you and your two friends ambushed me in an elevator shaft. This time, you’re all alone, without any backup.”

Despite the pain, Helen managed a smile. “And who,” she rasped through clenched teeth, “said that I’d come here ALONE?”

Lacie whirled around, but too late to stop the web of translucent threads from wrapping around her arms and legs. “Dammit!” she growled, pulling with all her considerable strength, trying to snap the wispy threads.

“Yeah, nice to see you too, bitch,” Tammi grunted, flexing her fingers. “Now, how about you put my girlfriend back down on the ground, nice and easy?”

Lacie grunted, trying to resist, but her muscled were no longer her own. Connected by the psychic threads, her arm lowered, and her hand opened despite her best efforts to hang on. Helen, rubbing her scalp, walked back towards her partner, smirking.

“Don’t think for a moment that these threads of yours can hold me for long,” Lacie warned, testing the limits of her mobility. Her limbs felt like they were trapped in wet concrete, but she could still move them.

“Maybe,” a third female voice spoke next to her left ear. Appearing suddenly out of thin air, Nancy ran a finger lightly across her lips. “But we don’t have to hold you for very long, now, do we?” She gestured towards the Senator who was groaning, groggily, shaking his head.

“NO!” Lacie yelled, struggling anew. Fade-Out walked calmly past her, lightly touching her two partners in passing, rendering them invisible as she walked past. She laughed evilly as she approached the dazed man, rubbing her hands together.

“You know,” she said, turning back to face Lacie as she helped the Senator back to his feet, “this is just the perfect setup. Just a quick shove, and the Senator’s street pizza. Security’s on its way up here, by the way—I made sure of that on my way up here. They should arrive any minute now... not soon enough to save Senator Wellsley, but definitely soon enough to catch a glimpse of his killer... that crazed, psychotic bitch from the news that the Senator has been trying so hard to stop!” She laughed again. “Let’s do it on the count of three.”

Lacie, growling angrily, watched helplessly as Nancy aimed the helpless State Senator for the edge of the roof, then stepped back. Dammit! Think! C’mon... there’s GOT to be a way out of this! I can... break free of these damned threads... eventually... but its taking too long! I’ve only got seconds... if I could hit Threads with an Omega Bolt... but I can’t even SEE her to aim!

“ONE!”

Wait... of course! That’s it! Bit of a long shot... but there’s no reason why it SHOULDN’T work...

“TWO!”

With a short flash of light, Lacie broke free, staggering slightly as complete control returned to her body. Turning her head, eyes glowing fiercely, she fired another bolt, right at Nancy’s unprotected back, moving forward already, heading towards the Senator, just as the heavy metal door opened behind her. A split second later, Nancy vanished, disappearing from sight, leaving only the Senator, dazed and confused.

Directly in the path of her attack.

Watching in horror, Lacie saw the man’s eyes clear in recognition just before the beam struck him fully. Gasping in shock, eyes rolling up into his head, Senator Wellsley, stumbled backward, and tipped over the edge of the building. Lacie ran, pushing her still numb muscles as hard as she could, moving slowly, much too slowly, reaching the edge just as a woman screamed from far below. Disbelieving, she glanced over the edge, pulling back, stunned, shaking her head in denial.

NO. NO! NO! It... can’t be true! IT CAN’T BE! It... has to be another illusion... just a fake image put into my head. It CAN’T be real!

“Oh my God!”

Lacie turned slowly, back towards the roof access, to find several armed security guards staring at her in horror. She shook her head again, opening her mouth to deny what everyone had seen, what they all THOUGHT they’d seen... but the words wouldn’t come.

“You... you killed him,” one of the guards said softly, taking a step forward, raising his gun. “You KILLED Senator Wellsley!”

“N... no,” Lacie managed, her mind awhirl, backing away. “It wasn’t... I didn’t... I...”

“Take her down!” another guard yelled, firing off a shot.

Lacie cried out, from shock rather than pain, as everyone began shooting at her. The bullets stung slightly, none of them penetrating her skin in the slightest; far more painful was the knowledge of what had happened, that she’d failed to save the Senator’s life, that these men and women—indeed EVERYONE, from now on—would always look on her as a murderer. A killer. With a loud cry, she leapt skyward, streaking off across the sky, heedless of her destination, needing only to get out of there, to go, run, run, as fast she could... trying to escape the pain and guilt.

It wasn’t me, she told herself, as she raced across the sky. I didn’t kill him. I didn’t. It wasn’t me. I... didn’t save him... but I didn’t KILL him either! It wasn’t me. IT WASN’T ME!

But her words were as unconvincing to her own ears as they were to the crowd up on the roof.

“Um, are you sure about this, ma’am?” Security Chief Daniels asked again, reading over the paperwork handed to him. “I mean, he’s been here for more than five years now, and no one’s EVER been by to check on him before.”

“I assure you, Mr. Daniels, I am quite sure. I’d like you to escort me to the prisoner’s cell right away.”

“Okay... but... well...”

Maddison Jeffries frowned, lowering her chin, peering out at the security guard over her horn-rimmed glasses. “Is there a problem? I trust my paperwork is in order?”

Daniels sighed. “Yes, Dr. Jeffries. Your credentials check out. I’m just having trouble... I mean, why on earth would the Pentagon suddenly be interested in someone like Doug Williams?”

Maddy frowned. “I’m not in a position to divulge state secrets...” she stated. “Now, if you would please show me to his cell... I have a full schedule today, and your needless questions are putting me behind.” Sighing deeply, the security chief lead her past the exterior of the down the

Douglas opened his eyes as the door opened. A tall slim woman, seemingly heedless of the danger, entered, glancing around. She frowned, sniffing her nose up in disdain. “Well... I can’t say much for the accommodations. I can see now why no one wants to go to jail.”

Glowing lightly, he rose to his feet. “I think perhaps you’ve taken a wrong turn, miss. If you value your life—”

“Hold on, relax Mr. Williams,” she said with a grin. The glow in the room dimmed, then faded. “I’m here to bring you a message. I believe you’ve been waiting anxiously for one. The Master wishes you to know the time is at hand. Prepare yourself. In two days time, you’ll be free... free to do His bidding once more. He trusts that you’ll be ready.”

Douglas sighed softly, closing his eyes in contentment. “Th... thank you. Your words fill me with hope. I was beginning to feel the strain of my time here. But now...” He opened his eyes. “When the time comes, I will be ready.”

“Yes, I know,” Maddy replied, glancing up at the ceiling. She raised a hand towards to system of control rods embedded in the ceiling, causing a shower of sparks to rain down. “Consider this a gift from our Master. Just remember... don’t let your personal vendettas compromise the Master’s plan.”

Doug nodded his assent, waiting until his visitor had departed before resuming his meditation. He closed his eyes, letting his thoughts still, listening to his heart slow. His mind turned inward as always, reminding him of his duty, his sacred mission. When the time came, he would be ready. He would fight for his Master, to bring His great plan into fruition.

And anyone who stood in his way would be destroyed.