Episode I: Meeting Mistress Payge.
The tendril machine lab.
Kyle came to awareness in the heart of Mistress Payge's grand citadel. He was surrounded by a vast expanse of cold, humorless walls filled with glowing electronic panels whose functions were as yet unknown to him. His eyes surveyed the room, darting from corner to corner. He couldn't move his head; it was strapped into the headrest of a raised contoured chair, a datadias. But he saw her, nevertheless, camouflaged among the sleek smooth machines, stood the woman. Tall, slender, she wore a black velvet-like dress which reached all the way to the floor, but hid nothing. It may have been spray painted on.
"Welcome, Kyle," she purred, her voice sugary sweet, yet underlined with a serpentine hiss. She stepped closer, into the ambient glow of the chamber. Her floor-length, obsidian sheath dress rustled ominously with each step.
"I am Mistress Payge--Repeat that for me."
He tensed and bit his lip. This bitch was not going to get what she wanted. He'd find a way out.
"I'm disappointed, Kyle. I thought we were going to be friends."
Kyle's eyes were adjusting to the light. The room was suffused with a cold radiance emanating from the walls themselves. An imposing, gargantuan machine spread above him, growing from the ceiling like bizarre fungus. Beneath it a chair. In the chair, himself, bound and helpless.
"This, my sweet Kyle," Her voice oozed sweetness, sticky and cloying, "is the tendril machine. I hope you will learn to love it as I do. In fact, I know you will. And then, you will acknowledge that I am Mistress Payge. You will beg for the chance to let my name escape your lips--in fact you will beg to do anything I ask of you."
Kyle struggled futility against his bonds.
With a wave of her hand, she called over an automaton in the all-to-realistic shape of a man, entering Kyle's field of vision from across the room. The android moved with mechanical precision, silently carrying a holographic screen towards Mistress Payge. The screen shimmered awake as it reached her side, projecting an array of digital ripples across its smooth surface. With an elegant touch, Mistress Payge's thin, manicured fingers began to dance upon the screen, commanding its ethereal display.
Kyle's vital signs materialized, capturing the essence of his mental and physical state. Absorbed by the readings, Mistress Payge studied the patterns with an analytical tilt of her head, a wicked smile playing upon her scarlet lips.
"Relax, my dear," she said, moving closer to Kyle. She traced a gloved finger across his forehead, her cold gaze locked onto his frightened stare. "Soon you will understand... obeying me is your only purpose."
An ethereal hum filled the room as she activated the device. Colorful plasma-like tendrils of energy snaked their way from the massive machinery above him, burrowing effortlessly into Kyle's temples and snaking like lightning around his head. He gasped, his body rigid with shock as the process began.
Payge began to speak, her words sliding into Kyle's mind, insidious and persuasive. "You will obey me, Kyle. You will follow my commands. Resistance is futile, acceptance is ecstasy."
Her voice was the only sound in the room, every syllable echoing ominously, each word weaving itself into the fabric of his thoughts.
Each sentence hit him like a wave, submerging him further into the depths of submission. His past memories began to fade, replaced by an omnipresent, singular directive: Obedience to Mistress Payge. The more she spoke, the deeper he sank, his own sense of self slowly fading away.
Kyle's brow furrowed in distress, yet no discernible words escaped him. A sweat broke on his forehead, reflecting the pale, spectral light of the chamber.
"Oh, don't fight it, Kyle," she said, a hint of mockery in her tone. "Your struggle only prolongs the inevitable."
Kyle's body visibly relaxed as he succumbed to her brainwashing, his fight evaporating. His eyes, once filled with fear, now reflected the harsh black reality of his fate. No defiance, no resistance, just an abyss of obedience to Mistress Payge. And then two words escaped his lips, "Mistress Payge."
Eventually the tendrils dissipated in a haze of electric sparks and the machine's hum grew silent. Kyle sat there, eerily serene, as if he was a mere mannequin. He raised his eyes to meet Payge's. There was no fear, no defiance, only a blank canvas waiting for his mistress's orders.
Obedience.
With a dismissive motion, she directed the android to unbind him from the chair beneath the tendril machine. The android, calmly and deliberately undid each strap with agonizing slowness and precision and stepped back to his corner.
"Stand, Kyle," Mistress Payge ordered, her voice resounding in the chilling silence of the room.
Without hesitation, Kyle rose, standing tall in obedience. The transformation was complete; he was no longer Kyle, the rebellious captive. He was now a vessel, a pawn for her to play with.
Mistress Payge studied Kyle for a moment, the cruel glint in her eyes reflecting a perverse satisfaction. She relished her newfound control, the anticipation of the manipulation that would follow. She began to command, her words clear and harsh in the soundless chamber.
"Kneel before me," she commanded. Without a hint of hesitation, Kyle did so, lowering himself until he was prostrate on the cold, hard floor of the chamber.
"Confess your obedience to me." His voice rang out, hollow and unfeeling, "I obey Mistress Payge." He spoke in a hushed voice, the voice of surrender, "I obey Mistress Payge, I obey Mistress Payge, I obey Mistress Payge..." Like a glitching program, he mindlessly repeated the phrase.
"You may be silent." She crooned, her voice now the most beautiful melody he had ever heard. There was nothing he would not do for that voice.
"Kiss the hem of my gown." He obeyed instantly, pressing his lips against the black, futuristic material without a hint of reluctance.
"Now, crawl over here and learn to serve me." His dignity discarded, Kyle obeyed, his hands and knees scraping against the strangely warm floor as he circled the room.
