Lifestyle Journalism Ch 02

A little over a week after Emma's first encounter with Amara Rodriguez, she once again found herself stepping into the personal trainer's apartment. Amara greeted her, as ever, with a warm, friendly, encouraging smile.

"Hey, Emma!" she said brightly. "Ready to work up a sweat?"

"You know it!" Emma replied, just as brightly. She followed Amara into her home gym and immediately started changing into the bright pink workout outfit Amara had lent her.

This was the fourth time she'd come to see Amara, and already, it was all becoming a habit. She showed up, got changed, asked Amara a few questions, worked out, and left. Emma wasn't sure how to feel about that. It wasn't supposed to be a habit, after all. Her interview with Amara should have been a one-time thing. But somehow, every time, she ended up exhausted and disoriented, struggling to remember what she had been meaning to ask. She barely remembered the second half of any of their sessions. It was getting frustrating.

But it wasn't all bad. Amara seemed happy to keep meeting up with her - just as long as Emma kept up their bargain. Exercise in exchange for questions. Even that was starting to feel like a win-win. The day after her first session with Amara, Emma's body had ached like hell, but after a week, the benefits of regular exercise had already started to appear. She felt more energetic, less sore, and more confident. Mel's home-cooked dinners were helping with that too, probably. As it turned out, a healthy lifestyle felt pretty great!

Emma didn't even mind that she was struggling so much with her investigation into abuses of mind control and hypnosis in the city's fitness scene. Somehow, whenever she sat down and tried to focus on her work, she ended up feeling far too light-headed and distracted to make any real progress. Muckraking was starting to feel boring, somehow, and whenever she reviewed her notes at the end of the day, they were always riddled with typos and mistakes.

That should have been eating at her, but... it wasn't. Emma just felt good. It was irrepressible. Perhaps it was the power of exercise. Perhaps she was simply warming to the idea of taking a break from her work, as Mel had proposed. Either way, Emma wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"OK, Emma." Amara clapped her hands; Emma knew that meant they were ready to get started. "How are you feeling?"

"Good!" Emma replied, truthfully. "I think I'm getting the hang of this whole exercise thing. I actually went out for a morning jog yesterday."

"That's great! I'm proud of you." Amara smiled. "We'll make a regular gym bunny out of you in no time. Although, it would be remiss of me not to mention that, if you truly want to level up your exercise game, there's one thing that really does the trick: hypnosis."

A shiver ran down Emma's spine. "Yeah?"

"It's what most people pay me for," Amara told her, smiling. "And it's part of my regular service. Hypnosis is great for self-improvement. It makes it easier to focus. Easier to push yourself. If you wanted to, I'd love to start incorporating it into your workouts."

"I... I dunno."

Emma found herself a lot more indecisive than she would have been a week earlier. She was a lot more alert than the average person to the dangers of being hypnotized by a stranger, but Amara didn't feel like a stranger. Emma trusted her. In particular, she trusted her exercise advice. Maybe hypnosis would be a big help. It wasn't like every single hypnotist in the world was some rich asshole trying to turn people into helpless drones, after all.

But there was something else. Another factor, putting its finger on the scales: Emma had started finding hypnosis incredibly, incredibly hot.

Hypnosis wasn't exactly an uncommon kink. Far from it. Given how the rich and elite wielded it as a tool of power, it was an easy thing for people of a certain persuasion to end up fetishizing. That was new to Emma, though. Somehow, recently, whenever she was blowing off some steam in private, she found her thoughts turning in that direction.

She couldn't stop thinking about how it would feel to slip under someone's hypnotic spell. The particular fantasy that kept haunting Emma was all about having the smarts and quick-thinking she was so proud of stripped out of her head, and being turned into one of those dim-witted, brainwashed bimbos that sometimes clung to the arms of powerful hypnotists. She fantasized about being stared at, posed, and put through the motions of dancing, or exercising, or performing, always while she was naked, or else wearing something pink and skintight.

It was embarrassing. But it also made her cum like nothing else, and a tiny little part of her was shivering in anticipation at the thought of finding out what hypnosis actually felt like.

"It's OK if you don't want to," Amara added. "I know you're wary, and that's totally understandable. I won't push it on you. It's just that I think it could really help, especially with the concentration problems you keep having with our interview."

Emma blinked and looked at her. "It could help with that?"

"Of course," Amara assured her. "There's nothing like hypnosis for giving you a little clarity of mind."

That was all the excuse Emma needed to succumb to temptation. She remained a little skeptical but, deep down, part of her wanted to give hypnosis a shot. She wanted to indulge this new desire of hers. If it did help with her work too, that was just a silver lining.

She'd just have to make sure Amara didn't notice how aroused hypnosis was making her.

"OK," Emma said, a touch breathlessly. "OK. Yeah. Let's give it a shot."

Amara reached over and clapped her on her shoulder. "Atta girl."

Emma blushed.

"So, um, what do you need me to do?" she asked, hoping to hide her embarrassment. "Do you have a pocket watch I should be staring at? A metronome? Do I look deep into your eyes?"

Amara laughed. "Only if you think they're pretty. I like to do things a little differently. Have you heard of kinesthetic inductions?"

"Hypnosis with movement." Emma nodded.

"That's right," Amara said. "Let me show you. Close your eyes."

Emma was a little unprepared for how quickly things were moving, but nonetheless she obediently closed her eyes. A moment later, she felt Amara take her hand and lead her a few paces away, to stand on one of her exercise mats.

"Good," Amara told her. "Now, focus on your body. Just like when you work out."

Emma nodded. That was easy. Amara was even talking to her like she did when she was working out, in that voice that was so confident, so soothing, so easy to obey.

"Good," Amara repeated. "I want you to visualize where you are right now. The room around you. The way you're standing. The way I'm standing. Picture it all, in your mind's eye. Can you do that?"

Emma nodded again. "In your apartment," she murmured. "In your gym. You're holding my hand."

"Very good," Amara said. "Keep your eyes close. I want you to notice the way that, already, your mental image is starting to fade. We forget things so quickly with our eyes shut. Where exactly are you standing? What's right in front of you? Which exercise machine is that, over there in the corner? Maybe you remember. Maybe not."

As soon as Amara mentioned it, Emma's mind's eye was starting to blur. Where was she standing? Amara had guided her to walk a short distance with her eyes closed. How many steps? How far had she moved? She wasn't quite sure.

Emma started to feel a little dizzy. She squeezed down tighter on Amara's hand.

"I'm here," Amara said soothingly. "Don't worry. I've got you."

She reached out and rested a hand on Emma's side, steadying her. An immediate wave of calm washed over Emma. Amara's touch was familiar. She was used to Amara touching her and guiding her when the personal trainer was showing her how to exercise properly.

This was no different. She just had to let Amara guide her.

Amara tugged gently at her hand, and Emma took careful, tentative steps after her, moving where she was guided. With each step, it became more difficult to picture exactly where she was standing, and, with that reference point gone, everything else started to dissolve into mist.

"It's getting harder to picture, isn't it?" Amara seemed like she could read Emma's mind. "That's OK. I want you to simply let that happen, Emma. Take some deep breaths, and let your mental image of this room fade away."

Emma did her best to obey. Once she accepted what was going to happen, it all started to fade away much, much faster. Soon, Amara's touch was her only lifeline.

"It's only natural," Amara continued. "Images fade. Memory fades, and it's OK to forget. Forgetting means less distractions. Less distractions means it's easier to stay focused. And we want you nice and focused, don't we Emma?"

"Yeah."

Emma nodded too. That was a mistake. Nodding triggered a wave of dizziness. She felt like she was about to lose her balance and stumble, but Amara steadied her - this time, by placing her hand firmly on the top of Emma's head.

"Focus, Emma," Amara encouraged. "It's OK. You're not going to fall over. I've got you. Nice, deep, calming breaths."

"OK."

Amara's words were already having a deep effect on Emma. As soon as Amara told her to be calm, she was calm. Emma realized she was rapidly slipping under hypnosis. That thought excited her, making her heart race even as her breathing slowed.

"Keep your eyes closed," Amara repeated. "Look around, in your mind's eye. What do you see?"

Emma made one last attempt to reconstruct the room around her. She failed. It was gone. She simply didn't know where she was, where Amara was, where anything was - and without those reference points, it felt like the walls around her had all receded into infinity, leaving her standing in a void.

"Nothing," Emma replied. Her voice sounded like it was coming from very far away.

"That's right," Amara said. "There's nothing. Where are you? Where are you, that there's nothing?"

It took Emma a long time to answer that question. "I'm... nowhere?"

That didn't seem right, but it felt right.

"You're nowhere," Amara confirmed for her. Amara's voice seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, and unlike Emma's, it was intimate and close. "And all this nowhere? All this nothing? It's all inside your head."

"Yeah..." Emma breathed. She felt so much more empty.

"There's nothing inside your head."

"Nothing... inside my head..." Emma echoed dreamily.

"And when you're nothing and nowhere," Amara continued, "there's no up."

She used her hand to tilt Emma's head upwards. The sensation of her orientation changing was disorienting, but strangely, Emma didn't feel dizzy. She had Amara. Amara was her anchor.

"There's no down." Amara tilted her head down. "There's no left. There's no right."

As Amara moved Emma's head around, Emma was haunted by the phantom sensation that she was spinning, even though she knew she wasn't. She was standing still, in place. But the spinning wouldn't stop.

"And if there's nothing," Amara went on, "if you're nowhere, then there's nothing beneath your feet at all, is there?"

"N-no," Emma whispered.

The void was deepening. Maybe she was spinning after all. She didn't know. She couldn't tell. There was nothing.

"And that means," Amara concluded, "there's nothing to stop your fall."

Before Emma could comprehend the meaning of her words, she felt Amara rest a hand on her chest and push. Hard.

Emma fell backward, far too disoriented to catch herself. She was nowhere and nothing. She was spinning, and there was nothing beneath her feet. Nothing to catch her fall. Even as her brain screamed at her that she was falling, Emma turned as limp as a rag doll. To her, she was simply falling into a void, and the void went on forever and ever.

She never hit the ground. Amara was right there to catch her, wrapping up the journalist in her powerful arms and supporting her entire weight. But for Emma, the sensation of falling never stopped. It went on and on. There was no end to it. Nothing. She simply kept sinking.

Carefully, Amara tipped her back upright. Emma found her footing again, but only by instinct. Her head was blank.

"Open your eyes," Amara instructed.

Emma obeyed, blinking a few times as she was dazzled by the sudden brightness. Having her eyes open did nothing to stop the sensation of infinite falling. Her vision was strangely distorted; it was like she was looking at Amara from down a very long telescope. Everything besides the personal trainer was indistinct; out of focus.

"You know that you're completely hypnotized now," Amara told her. It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Emma answered. An electric shiver raced down her spine.

"Good." Amara was smiling. "This is what falling feels like, Emma. Falling into trance. I want you to memorize it for me. And whenever I tell you to 'fall', it'll all come rushing back. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Good girl." Amara clapped her hands together sharply. "OK, Emma. Time for our interview."

Emma blinked again, the loud noise helping to shock her back to awareness. But the sensation of falling was still there in the pit of her stomach, and the void that had been all around her was now inside her head. It was all so strange. Could she really interview someone like this?

Amara had said it would help, though. Emma couldn't muster enough willpower to disagree.

"O-OK." Emma set her hypnotized mind to the task of trying to come up with a question. "Um..."

"Why not start with something nice and casual?" Amara suggested. "Just to get warmed up."

"Right." Emma was grateful for the advice, but she still found herself drawing a blank. Her thoughts were unbelievably sluggish, and the simple knowledge that she was hypnotized right now was a thrilling distraction. "Like... uh..."

Amara laughed gently. "Why don't you ask me my favorite color?"

As soon as Amara suggested it, it clicked into Emma's head as the perfect question. "What's your favorite color?"

Amara tilted her head to one side, amused. "Pink."

Emma blinked. She'd never seen Amara wear pink; her workout clothes were always black. "Really? I'm surprised."

"Pink is just such a lovely, bright color," Amara explained. "I love looking at it. Don't you? Doesn't it just make you feel happy? Bubbly? Full of energy? It's perfect for working out."

Emma nodded, eagerly absorbing Amara's words. Clearly, she had been right about hypnosis. Concentrating on what Amara told her was proving effortless.

"Just look at you, in those pink clothes," Amara added. "You seem a lot happier whenever you put those on. It puts a smile on your face. Maybe even makes you a little giggly. Pink is great."

Again, Emma nodded. She felt like she knew exactly what Amara was talking about.

"How about you?" Amara asked. "Got a favorite color?"

Emma was surprised by the question. She'd never really thought about it before. But one obvious answer came immediately to mind.

"Pink," Emma replied, still in that distant, vacant tone of voice.

Pink made her happy. Pink made her bubbly. Pink made her full of energy. It made her smile and giggle.

"Oh?" Amara cocked an eyebrow. "Guess I nailed it with your workout gear. Looks like we won't need to find you anything else after all."

"Right," Emma agreed. Pink was perfect. Why would she need an outfit that wasn't pink?

"Next question?" Amara prompted.

"Yeah." This time, Emma tried her hardest to come up with something. She couldn't let Amara give her all the questions. That would be embarrassing. "Um... what... what do you like so much about exercise?"

It was lame, she knew. Another softball. But better than nothing.

"That's easy," Amara answered. "There's so much to love about it. It's good for you, right? Exercise is very healthy, and I love feeling healthy. Who wouldn't? Who doesn't love knowing that they're giving their body the best? Not just exercise - diet, too."

That made perfect sense. Emma nodded.

"Just look at you, for example," Amara went on. "I can tell how much better you feel, now that you've been living a healthier lifestyle. I'm sure you can too, deep down. Regular exercise, better meals... it's honestly a little bit addictive."

Her words struck a chord with Emma. It was like she couldn't even imagine Amara being wrong. She could feel it too. Addictive.

"And the raw sensation of exercise? That's definitely addictive," Amara added. "It's physiological. All those endorphins, bubbling up in your brain while you work out. I just can't get enough of it."

Emma nodded eagerly. She'd noticed that as well.

"It makes it so easy not to think. Overthinking is such a problem, isn't it?" Emma nodded emphatically at that. "It's so hard to ever truly shut our brains off. Thinking too much causes so much anxiety. So many problems. Sometimes, it's nice to make ourselves dumb instead."

Emma shivered. Something about the word 'dumb' echoed deliciously through her body.

"I can imagine it's the same for you," Amara suggested. "It must be nice for a brainy journalist like you to stop thinking for a change."

"Oh yeah," Emma replied, with genuine enthusiasm. "It's... it's nice to be dumb."

"Yeah?" Amara's smile curled. "You like getting dumber?"

"Getting dumber feels good." The words came to Emma's lips effortlessly, like a mantra. And there it was again - that delicious shiver.

She was starting to love being hypnotized. After all, hypnosis made her dumber.

"Good." Amara laughed gently. "But that's not all, you know. I also love the attention."

Emma's ears perked up. "The attention?"

Amara nodded. "Absolutely. Working out gets you a lot of attention. Who doesn't love a girl who's in good shape?"

She flexed slightly, demonstrating. Emma's eyes widened.

"But," Amara added, like it was an afterthought, "you must already know all about that."

Emma was sure she didn't. "What do you mean?"

"You love attention, don't you?" Amara said. "After all, you're a journalist. Journalism is all about being in the public eye, right? Getting readers? Making big headlines?"

"I... guess." Emma had never thought about it that way before, but she supposed Amara had a point. It did always feel good when one of her stories broke big. It was rewarding. "Yeah."

"It's natural," Amara affirmed. "Attention feels good."

"Yeah." Emma was quickly growing more comfortable with that.

"You love attention."

"Y-yeah," Emma conceded. "I love attention."

That brought forth another shiver of excitement. She was discovering so many new things to love recently.

"And exercising is a great way to get it." Amara shrugged. "Well, there you have it, Emma. That's why I love working out. Health, attention, and getting to dumb down a little." She grinned. "I'm sensing you get what I'm talking about."

Emma did. She really did. She understood Amara perfectly.

"Anyway, that's probably enough warm-up," Amara said. "How about you ask me one of your real questions, Emma?"

"O-oh! Um. Right."

Emma frowned. Despite how focused she felt, she was still having trouble remembering what she was supposed to be asking Amara. Her head was swimming with fantasies and thoughts - about exercise, attention, hypnosis, and so much more. Her investigation was starting to feel like a distant priority.

Her investigation. It came back to her in a rush. Emma decided to go for the big question, now that she had hypnosis helping to sharpen her mind.

"I... I think that some personal trainers are exploiting people using hypnosis," Emma said slowly. She needed to get this right - even if she still felt like she was falling. "Using the pretext of exercise to turn them into perfect, brainwashed slaves for whoever is truly controlling them. Amara, have you ever mind-controlled someone against their will like that?"