(Content Warning: Non-con, identity death, hypnosis, implied unknown substance use/spiking.)
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They hadn't even made it into the club yet, but Silver already found themselves tapping their foot along to the infectious pulse of the bassline radiating out from the door ahead of them. The purple glow from the entryway seemed to shift and move in time with the beat, and the eager clubgoer idly swayed back and forth in time. The queue had felt agonisingly slow, with what felt like half the city out in force to shuffle slowly forward towards the tall bouncer Silver had been eyeing up ever since they caught sight of her.
The busy line wasn't a surprise though. This was, after all, Club Hive, the hottest new spot in town, an exclusive nightclub which only let in a chosen few. The criteria for getting in was obscure and unknown, with even the most well-known socialites finding themselves left out to dry based on nothing more than the word of the bouncers. Silver was hoping against hope that they would make it inside, though; the whispers they had heard of the raucous parties going on within had left them more than eager to dive in -- eager enough to come alone, to an unfamiliar environment, wearing little more than a few loose and flowy strips of fabric underneath a heavy coat, which was entirely failing to keep out the chill of the late night.
Another shuffle forward, another few steps closer. The bassline was getting more and more compelling, and Silver found themselves slipping into their own head, zoning out as a rhythm seemed to settle into their core, the rest of the grumbling people in the line fading away into nothing but smears of faint colour. Another shuffle, another step. They were shaken from their haze as an outcry went up from the pair of girls ahead of them, both of them erupting in a slew of whining and pleading at the bouncer blocking them with her arms crossed, a stern look on her face. She delivered a command in a firm monotone:
"Rules must be obeyed. Move along."
With a final round of exasperated sighs, the pair strode away from the line, faces locked into frowns. Silver's eyes tracked them moving away, taking note of how they were impeccably dressed, well made-up, perfectly suited to any club they had been in -- if these two weren't making it in, what hope would they have?
"Present I.D."
The bouncer was right in front of them, towering Silver's short, stocky body. The clubgoer's nervous eyes flicked down, finding an imposing pair of heeled boots leading up to a strangely shiny material on the bouncer's legs, disappearing into the long coat of her uniform, but then-
"Repeat request."
"Ah, um, sorry! Here!" Silver quickly started fumbling with their coat, pulling out an old licence and handing it over, hand shaking slightly with nerves. The bouncer took it in a gloved hand, coated with that same shiny material that Silver found themselves strangely captivated by, and stared at it intensely. Suddenly, the bouncer's eyes darted up to lock with Silver's.
"Look at me."
They couldn't help but follow the command as they fell into the bouncer's eyes, a deep, dark purple -- surely just from the light spilling out from the club -- which seemed to just swallow everything up. They felt themselves sinking deeper, deeper, sinking in, as their mind seemed to just go blank, all of their thoughts slipping through their grasp-
"Suitability confirmed. Proceed inside."
What? Did that mean they were in? The bouncer stepped aside, gesturing towards that pulsing, beating purple light coming from inside the club. Silver waited, feeling themselves on the precipice of... something. The enticing light and infectious sub-bass vibration was pulling them forward, but they couldn't shake the feeling that they'd come out of this club somehow different than they went in.
"Proceed, now."
Before they knew it, Silver's legs were in motion, carrying them forward through the doorway. It was like stepping through some sort of portal as the purple glow immediately infused the entire world, casting everything in its deep colour. They lost track of themselves for a moment, stepping through flashes of moments; shedding their coat to a gently gesturing hand from a cloakroom, gloved in that slick material; drifting through a long, twisting corridor with swirling patterns covering the walls; then, finally, reaching the main room, looking out on a pulsing, bouncing mass of people dancing their lives away.
The room was packed, moving in unison along with the beat of the music. Silver looked around for a moment and spotted the DJ in a booth at the front of the crowd, dancing to their own soundtrack. It was hard to pick out details, but as Silver squinted through the hazy air of the club they spotted a strange helmet wrapped around the DJ's head, a pair of glowing purple lenses shining like spotlights in the dim room. The focus of the entire space was a bright neon sign hanging over the stage, calling out just one simple word -- HIVE.
Something lightly bumped Silver from behind, and the added momentum was enough to carry them down into the crowd. Almost immediately they were completely gone, losing their bearings, totally immersed on the surging, heaving dancefloor. They moved to the bass, jumped with the beat, their body an instrument of the music, reacting and responding to the infectious atmosphere of the crowd. They pressed their body up against others, felt strangely slick materials sliding across their skin, sweat pouring off them and mixing with that of others. They couldn't stop the wide smile forming on their face. They didn't want to.
Eventually, finally, after what might have been minutes or hours, they took a break and staggered their way to the bar, breaking out into a small clearing around the counter, the crowd like a wall of writhing bodies and pulsing flesh behind them. Leaning over, Silver looked for a bartender, their eyes widening as they spotted a tall, lithe figure clad entirely in that enticingly slick and shiny material they had been eyeing up all night.
Their body -- utterly androgynous, despite the smooth suit leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination -- was completely encased, and their face seemed to have also been hidden behind some sort of mask, totally smooth and featureless. For a moment, Silver thought they had been totally mistaken, and that it was just some sort of statue, before that smooth, blank face smoothly pivoted towards them, and they started to walk towards them. A voice emanated from beneath the mask, flat and neutral.
"Drink?"
"Um... Uh... Could I ha-"
