He swung the pendulum before my eyes. The dim light in the chamber glinted off the metal disc. He spoke in a calm, even voice.
"Your eyes are drawn to the gentle rhythm of the coin as it swings back and forth, back and forth. Every swing leading inevitably to the next, just as each motion inevitably draws you down deeper and deeper into trance. Soon those pretty, green eyes will be so heavy and tired that they can't help but close, can't help but surrender, can't help but," he droned.
"NEXT!" I yelled, cutting him off.
"What? Really, Lisa? I thought I totally had you there. You looked really tired and everything," the young man whined. He lowered his pendulum dejectedly to the table. It made a sad clinking noise as it hit the metal surface.
I sighed, my patience already growing thin for the day. "You're mistaking boredom for trance. Trying to bore me into trance might be enough to work, but that's not what you did. You relied on the oldest trick in the book."
"But it's a classic," he stammered.
I tried to look consoling and not like I was counting the minutes until 5:00. "It is a classic. But you have to tailor your induction to your subject and you should understand that someone in my position has seen that a thousand times. The Supreme Master tasked me with training all of you. Don't you think I've seen enough pendulum inductions?" I explained slowly. "If you want to be a Master, bending innocent victims to your will, you'll have to do better. You can try again next week. Now leave the examination room please."
"Okay," he sighed, defeated. He pushed his chair back, making a sharp scraping noise on the concrete floor. I winced. It was too early for such loud noises. I took another deep sip of coffee.
Honestly when The Supreme Master recruited me, this wasn't what I had in mind. He told me I would be helping him dominate the world as his obedient slave. I still remember those heady fantasies of being a slave girl tied up to his bed, completely helpless and hungry for him. I thought I might be his lieutenant, hanging off his arm in a tight leather jumpsuit, while he brought world leaders to their knees.
The last thing I imagined was serving as a teacher/training dummy for his next generation of evil hypnotists. These kids had no idea what they were doing. I say kids, they were all early 20's, but they didn't know the first thing about inductions. I hadn't had a decent trance in months. They're lucky The Supreme Master commanded me to do this or I would walk right out of this secret, underground compound. In a way it was cruel what The Supreme Master did to me. He took a woman who loves the feeling of losing herself in hypnosis and surrounded her with a bunch of rank amateurs. Oh well. It's not like a could ever defy him, even if I hated this job.
The next student entered the room. She wore glasses and carried a shiny, plastic briefcase. I had her name written down in my notes, but I stopped paying attention to their names a long time ago. What did it matter? They were all the same person to me, and that person didn't know how to give me the sweet release of oblivion that I craved so badly.
Nonetheless this one moved with a confident swagger. "Good morning Lisa, or should I say my future slave," she said smugly.
Ha if only that were true.
She set her briefcase down on the table. The clasps released with a click. Then she turned it to face me and swung the lid open. It revealed a bulky, white virtual reality headset, sitting in black foam. "Put this on Lisa. It'll be the last thing you do of your own free will," she cooed.
I sighed trying not to openly roll my eyes. This girl really thought I'd never seen a brainwashing rig before. But I put it on. The strap hugged tightly across by chestnut hair. The headset completely captured my vision and my hearing, plunging the world into a silent darkness. But that darkness lasted only a moment. The screen flared to life, and I found myself staring into a panoramic kaleidoscope of color. My eyes would follow one shimmering thread of a hue before it would melt away and leave my gaze blank and unfocused.
At the same time, the speakers began pounding a relentless thrum into my ears. Any time I tried to form a thought, the steady pounding shook it out of my head. Underneath the bass I could hear a recording of the young woman's voice. I could only make out a few words, "Obey... Submit... Pleasure... Lick." But I knew my subconscious self was hearing all of them. My attention was totally captured, my thoughts fragmented, my subconscious eagerly accepting the programming of my new mistress. I imagined letting go for her, surrendering my mind and body to this young woman's every desire. It felt wonderful. If felt so close. So close."
"Heavy..." I mumbled in a dull monotone.
"That's right Lisa. You're feeling so heavy, so sleepy," she replied.
