Title: Percpetion is Reality
Chapter 6: The Sublime Illusion Solution
In a converted warehouse in the industrial district, women chatted about logistics and planning, made phone calls, and otherwise had the appearance of a normal business. Some of them wore their pink hoodies, while others had them on their desks or on the back of their chairs. There were friendly smiles around, and occasionally, one would emerge from the break room with a satisfied glow and her clothing in various states of disarray.
One such woman collapsed on her chair outside of the boss’s office, sighing a smile as her legs gave one last twitch of pleasure. She waved another young woman in a pink hoodie into the boss’s office without even checking his calendar.
Percival “Perceptron” Middlesteed kept peering over the spreadsheet on his laptop, “One second—”
But in a flash of motion, he was grabbed up by the lapels and shoved back against the wall. The thud knocked his breath out. The pink hood pulled back to reveal the mask of the Gold Falcon. “Surprise, douchebag.”
He groaned in response, “Ow, that... erg, that really hurt.”
“Yeah, well jackass, you officially pissed me off. But now—” She smiled in self satisfaction. “But now this all ends. And don’t even try your illusion crap or I’ll break your neck before your eyes finish swirling.”
He looked down at the superpowered hands that held him up and could break him with a flick. “Okay, I’m your prisoner, now what?” he asked, though his voice was calming quickly.
Part of her wanted to throttle him, but she shouldn’t because it wouldn’t be the heroine thing to do. Besides, it’d be a waste since he was kind of sexy and if things were different she would mind a little tumble. That was an odd thought. She frowned losing herself for a moment. Pulling herself back to the present, she shook him once to get that edge of fear back into him. Gold Falcon was not taking chances this time. “Simple, you call off whatever guards you’ve no doubt signaled, with a clear direct verbal order. Next, you tell me about any traps or security measures you have installed in this room.” She paused, waiting for him to take action. “Well?”
“I didn’t call any security. I don’t have any security, it’s just me and the girls.” He smiled.
“Bullcrap!” She shoved him anew. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not, I’m not lying, see?”
He pointed his hand to the door where the receptionist had opened it and was staring in confused fear. “Uh, sir, should I call the police?”
“No, Mary, we’re fine, just a misunderstanding. Uh, hold my calls for a bit? I promise, I’m fine, thanks.” He grimace wasn’t comforting, but she slowly closed the door.
“Misunderstanding?” She shook her head. “You’ve got some balls.” ‘And probably a hard cock.’ She added the lewd thought then admonished herself.
“See, I said, no security, no traps, right? What next?”
She sneered at him. “Let me tell what’s going to happen. I am going to take your lame ass into the police and they are going to arrest you for all the crimes you’ve committed against this city. After that, I’m going to watch them put the blinders on you and you’ll release anyone you have under your spells.”
“Sounds like a good plan. One hitch though.”
“What?” She sneered. Everything was going according to plan and she had this handsome jerk in a box. There was no way he was going to get out of this and get his hands all over her body again.
“I haven’t committed any crimes.”
A disbelieving smile curled up her lip, “Ha! Yeah right, you lie worse than a politician.”
“Okay, but it’s true.” The sing-song lilt in his voice gave her a chill.
“You attacked Elliott Kemper and kidnapped Stacey Amoretta, crimes against rich high profile celebrities means you’re screwed.” She grinned.
“Uh, no, actually, uh, Elliott hired me to kidnap her, so I was there by invitation. They were having trouble and he wanted to fix her behavior with a faked kidnapping so she’d be too scared to go partying without his security. But I told her the truth and now they broke up. As for kidnapping her, she was so pissed at him that she decided to take a while to clear her head and came to work with me for a while. She has plenty of money, but she trusts me and feels safe here. See? No crime.”
“What about the movie theater? You tried to kill Stacey—you had her throw herself off the balcony. She would have gone face first into—”
“A tank of water.”
“Where, what?”
“There was a tank of water right where she was diving covered by a paper printout with the floor’s design. It was a cool illusion I planned, it was a performance piece, but you ruined it. Actually, your disorderly conduct disturbed the pre-movie show I was putting on. Sorry, honey, no crime there.”
She was frowning in disbelief, and her grip on him was slackening. “But what...”
“What about the Sorority? They hired a hypnotist. The statue? I had a permit. For the demonstration? I had a permit. For the cabins, I rented them for the night under my real name. Face it, you’ve got nothing.”
“You, no, you drugged me, you made me do things, the aphrodisiacs, that’s assault!” She threw the accusation at him, even as he had her backing up. Her mind whirled, could it be true? Was it all lies? No, she’d been drugged!
“Are you sure you were drugged? Because if you were, they never came from me.”
“But, the neurochemist that you kidnapped—the one you’re holding prisoner. The one who made the aphrodisiac and the giggle gas.”
“Oh yeah, what is the neurochemist’s name? Has any neurochemist gone missing? Did you even check, you utter ignoramus?”
“Uh, I don’t know.”
“And even if I had kidnapped a neurochemist, giggle gas? Do you seriously believe that there’s a gas that makes people play tickling games following specific rules?” The words came down like a hammer cracking her resolve. “If we went to the police and you told them that you might find a room in the loony bin, Falcon. There is no such thing.”
“But... but...” Her voice was shrinking by the moment. “It affected me.”
His laughter slapped her. “And you’re telling me you think, you honestly think that giggle gas that makes you chase after girls and tickle them and that if you laugh, the gas somehow compels you to take off a single article of clothing? That sounds logical to you? You think that really exists?”
She slumped, “I- I tickled them.”
“Yes, I remember that. I believe you assaulted several police officers that night. While we’re reminiscing, on the movie night, I am fairly certain that you committed indecent exposure and lewd acts. What’s more, you’re wearing a mask pretending to be the law. I am fairly certain there are anti vigilante laws. Plus today, you’re trespassing on my property and you committed assault just now. Oh and it is on video, baby.” He grinned and clicked a button on his phone’s app that replayed her slamming him up against the wall.
“No.” Her voice was barely a whisper as she slumped back on the desk. She shook her head, “What... what about all the women here, you’re raping them, systematically, you take them in the break room. And don’t tell me they want it, because mind controlling them into wanting it is still nonconsensual.
“Wow. You must really think the world of me. Not only am I the greatest Mastermind, but also I am viril enough to screw every woman in this building, do you know how many women there are here? Takes more than a hundred to run a volunteer charity organization. That is high praise, Falcon. But come, I will show you.”
He got up and left and she followed him, confused out of his office and into the break room. Her jaw fell in shock at the sight of a woman with her clothes half torn off kneeling on a well worn bed riding nothing but air as she grasped onto the headboard and screamed out in passion.
“Oh my God, it’s all an illusion?” She whispered in awe.
“Yes, quite right. I think her favorite is Benedict Cumberbatch. She is seeing his face wearing the Perceptron costume.” He shrugged, “I am not everyone’s type, just yours.”
She rode herself closer and closer to orgasmic bliss while Gold Falcon shifted uncomfortably. “You’re not my type.”
He grinned broadly. “You keep getting everything wrong. I am absolutely your type. That’s the best part about this. It was all your idea.”
She gasped, “What? No! What do you mean?”
He paced excitedly, she watched his glee in horror, “I had it all wrong, I thought I could find out what you wanted most and give it to you in illusory form and maybe then you wouldn’t reject my illusions, you’d let me in. But when I asked you what you wanted, you told me.”
He pulled out his phone again and hit play. An image of her in GoWow tower with the VR headset on showed up. She heard him say, “What is your deepest most secret desire?”
Her own voice came back sleepy and slurred, “I want to face a truly great villain. Someone worthy of me. Someone who can really challenge me. I want to face a villain who could beat me.”
“I- you... I was hypnotized...” she said, half question, half complaint.
“Yes, and you can’t convince someone to do anything they wouldn’t want to deep down inside. You wanted someone worthy of you. You wanted all of this.” He smiled over her in triumph.
Bit by bit, her plans had fallen into wreckage and she’d come to realize how deeply she’d been failing. She was the only criminal here. She was the one wanted by police. She faltered, tears welling in her eyes as her own belief in herself crumbled. She’d been the one who slammed him up against the wall, physically assaulting him and cursing in a very unheroic way.
He lifted her gaze cupping her cheeks in both hands, “You see, my sweet girl, all of this was for you. All of the nasty things you did in public were your idea. Your own secret fantasies of exhibitionism and wild unbridled erotic passion. You wanted it all and so, you made it so. You took up every hypnotic suggestion with gusto and when you thought you might start to doubt it, you asked me to give you one of those units. You have been brainwashing yourself every night.”
“No, you’re lying, you’re a liar.” She threw out her weak accusation, but he steamrolled over it.
“Think back, remember what you do when you get home at night after a patrol. What do you do?”
She stammered. “I take a shower, and I go to bed.”
“Focus, picture it, and remember.” He commanded.
“No, oh God.”
“Yes, my dear, you are already so brainwashed I could trigger you right now to let me in and you wouldn’t resist it. You wouldn’t know how to. Instead I will just trigger you right now and let you remember the truth. The words I use to trigger you are, I have a suggestion for the good librarian.”
She tried to fight it even as her mind grew muddy, but he was right. He had to be right because she couldn’t resist. Even as he told her to remember, she could feel the dazed muzz of her head lifting.
In her mind’s eye, she saw her closet. She remembered reaching in and getting the box. The headset. Just like he said, every night she’d been brainwashing herself for hours. That was why she was so exhausted!
“It is not your fault, my pet, you were made to be my slave. You were destined for it. Even your name screams for it.” His voice throbbed confidence.
“What? Gold Falcon doesn’t—”
He interrupted. “Not that name. Your true name, Beyla. In Norse mythology Beyla was a servant of—”
She completed the thought, “Freyr.”
“Freyr.” He nodded. “The phallic God. Now you’ll serve your phallic God, me. With this enchantment, I am going to give you what you want most: the chance to fulfil your entire life’s purpose. All you have to do is one small thing.” He lifted her dazed exhausted eyes to his as the spirals of his power began glowing. Her eyes widened in panic as he said to her, “Just relax and let me in.”
She felt the presence of his magic wash over her and the world flared vibrant colors before settling back down. The Gold mask was telling her she was feeling the spell, but she couldn’t bring herself to will it to be ended.
Her world strobed as her eyes swirled into hers. She felt so meek and powerless before him, utterly defeated. But was this what she wanted all along? He never lied, he’d been playing with her this whole time, she’d never stood a chance. Could she really fight him now? She couldn’t even bring him in because she was the one who had committed crimes, what could she possibly hope to do?
“No, please.” She murmured for mercy but his eyes drove his will further into her rubbery mind and her pliable thoughts cast about.
“Give in to it. Serve me. Consent and let the magics flow into your mind. Let me in.”
“Oh God!” She cried out. She couldn’t summon the will to resist him even if she thought to try.
The colors receded and the dizziness set in and then he released her.