Author's note:
Hey presto, the sequel. Yes, sequel. Please read the first, if you haven't already, or you'll have no idea of what's going on or what the setup is or the rules, or why anything is happening.
Some may find this darker and less erotic. This is intentional and integral to the story.
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There was a seriousness to the girls' study that had not been there before.
Where before they had only really thrown themselves into the subjects they enjoyed (combat and tactics for Kimberley, law and human/parahuman relations for Megan) they now dug grimly into anti-villain studies, counter-villainism and mind-control resistance.
The entire class were avoiding each other, although Kimberley and Megan had cautiously grown together again over the four days until classes resumed again.
On the first lecture after the test, there had only been 14 chairs, arranged in a tight semi-circle, and they all tried to avoid meeting each other's eyes.
Their lecturer was a wiry-thin psychology professor whose lack of parahuman abilities did not make students respect or fear her any less.
When she spoke, they followed her every word for fear of missing one, and they could hear inverted commas dropping neatly into place whenever she introduced new terms.
"There are three basic types of what we refer to as 'mind-control'. Name one - Kimberley!"
Kimberley swallowed, her cheeks already burning. Answering would reveal to everyone what had happened to her, but not answering was not an option. Trying to come up with a novel answer was not, she suspected, going to be a good idea at all.
"Controlling the body," she said, trying but failing not to mumble.
"Speak up!"
"Controlling the body!"
Professor Wittger turned to write on the board. "Known as puppetry - not control or dominance of the mind at all, puppetry involves controlling the body through hijacking of the nervous system or relevant areas of the brain.
"Puppetry can involve actual puppetry, where individual limbs must be moved individually, referred to as 'catatonic puppetry' after the psychiatric disorder of catatonic schizophrenia, in which some patients can exhibit lack of conscious movement combined with 'waxy flexibility', which enables the patient to be placed into poses which they will maintain, and 'controlling puppetry,' the type most people assume, which involves giving orders that are carried out to the letter but with full ability by the puppet.
"Controlling puppetry obviously makes it easier for the puppeteer to use the puppet as a slave, but can involve the old 'agreement with the devil' difficulty of having to be very precise in commands, because the puppet may only respond to what is said, not what is implied - known as robotic puppetry.
"On the other hand, the puppet may interpret commands based upon their unconscious desires and prejudices and there is a forensic usage for this, to determine true habits and attitudes. This is referred to as guided controlling puppetry and has an obvious overlap with more commonly understood conceptions of mind control."
Kimberley sincerely wished the floor would open up and swallow her.
"In either type of puppetry, the puppet may be fully unconscious, in an altered state of consciousness, which is often used in the puppet-making process, or fully conscious and in a locked-in state. If you wish to know more about that, research 'locked-in syndrome.'
"What is the next type of mind control, Jules?"
Jules, a slight and introspective boy turning reluctantly wiry at the College and struggling to master his parahuman powers of teleportation, swallowed convulsively. "Brainwashing," he said in a low but carrying voice.
"Which means?"
"Changing how you think," he said at the floor, but loudly enough to be heard.
"Correct. This technique, which can and has been accomplished using simple and well-understood behavioural conditioning techniques, is also not mind-control per se, but involves changing the subject's attitudes and beliefs until they will choose to follow and obey the conditioner. Prisoners of war who are released expressing full support for their captor's ideology, and the much more common instance of fiercely and unquestioningly loyal cult members, are both instances of what the public came to understand, in the late fifties, as 'brainwashing'.
"There are two categories, but they are so closely related some taxonomists question the distinction. For the purposes of clarity, we will use it. Type one is 'adoration', where brainwashing focuses on the subject desiring to make a person or group happy - through adoration, love, doting, or fear of them not being happy.
"Type two is 'disciple brainwashing,' where the subject quite simply believes that whatever a person or group says, is absolutely true, right, correct and desirable.
"Contrary to popular misconception, neither gender of parahuman is more likely to employ one or other of these types, and neither gender is more susceptible in any way.
"The Stockholm Syndrome, wherein a hostage comes to fixate on their captor, is an accidental form of brainwashing resulting from the unintended application of some brainwashing techniques combined with certain psychological traits in the captive.
"As a psychological technique, brain-washing is easily reversible and, in someone who has not made a conscious commitment to the process, expires on its own. Parahumans can make it almost permanent, and against the subject's will, but it is always reversible.
"What is the third technique of mind-control, Stacey?"
"Subversion of consciousness." Stacey answered clearly and levelly, but even her self-discipline could not prevent the rigidity of her posture being evident to anyone who dared look at her.
"Known as 'psychic hijacking', the third technique is the only true instance of mind-control. It involves subverting, destroying or suppressing conscious will and replacing it with an artificial obedience to everything the controller orders. There is a continuum from simple robots who need precise instruction, as in robotic puppetry, referred to as 'roboticisation' or 'robotic dominance,' up to drones who have some or all of their original memories or skills, can reason through simple or quite complex tasks, and may even be able to pass for original. This much more sophisticated and dangerous form is referred to as 'drone dominance' and the best mind-controllers can create sleepers who pass for unchanged for years or decades at a time but are instantly and supremely loyal when required. Obviously, only drones have an identifiable personality.
"Subjects may have varying levels of consciousness but, unlike robot puppetry, if they possess consciousness they are fully and wholly committed to their master and therefore there is no risk of them fighting back.
"Obviously, there are many shades of grey and overlaps, and taxonomical researchers are still arguing over where some famous cases fit, and whether some old cults are evidence of early cases of parahumanism, not just manipulative charisma."
The Professor drew a line under the three numbered labels on the board.
"These three represent increasing levels of difficulty and danger. Puppetry is easy to do, but exhausting to maintain and requires constant attention, and puppets require constant supervision.
"Brain-washing is difficult and either energy- or labour-intensive, the subjects are still acting as autonomous beings, albeit loyal autonomous beings, and even from the most powerful parahuman, there is a risk of spontaneous or gradual recovery.
"True mind-control, psychic hijacking, is extremely difficult or requires immense power, is dangerous to the psyche under assault and can be quite difficult to undo. The success rate for healing the victims of some Villains, without the Villains' cooperation, is as low as 5%."
Several students swallowed convulsively, looking briefly, starkly, terrified.
"It is official policy, official policy! That if you are facing a confirmed, registered psychic hijacker, you are allowed to disable first. They are placed in maximum security when captured, and kept under constant observation while studying at the College. They are taken to the College immediately upon identification, not allowed to mature in age or powers first. Many lives have been ruined by hijackers before they are aware of their powers."
The Professor turned around.
"You have the readings, you have all the additional learning resources. Read and study them all. I am quite serious about that. In one week, at this lecture, you will hand me a full assessment of the mind-control episode you experienced last week. Analyse the full taxonomy, describe the experience in detail, analyse your reactions and outline a brief list of ways you could have responded more efficaciously following capture and disablement.
"Eight to 10,000 words, no deadlines, no exceptions, failure to hand it in will result in expulsion from the College. I suggest you begin now."
She walked briskly out of the room, leaving 14 students too stunned to move.
#
In the week since, a week without lectures, the year-group had been uncharacteristically quiet and studious, an annual event the College staff looked forward to with wry amusement.
Stacey was no longer the only one regularly seen lying in the quad with a book. Alex was no longer the only one regularly seen in the library, head bent over a book and note-taking hand poised.
The gym and other sporting facilities became the most popular spots to unwind, or at least distract, but there was a careful, unplanned but studiously maintained roster so there was never an overlap between the group. Everyone else in the College, save the first-years, had seen every inch of them, but none of the 14 hid, although heads were down and walks rapid. Gradually the air of support and empathy from the older students wore through the shame and returned relations to at least a state of working cordiality.
Towards the end of the week, Megan began joining Kimberley for her spare-time workouts in the gym, entirely without comment or words exchanged, exchanging her preferred swimming for work on the bags or sparring dummies.
After the first two sessions, still without comment, they moved onto the sparring mats.
Their combat was fierce, brutal, no holding back, no powers but no restraints. They fought silently, only grunts of exertion or of pain heard over the thuds of flesh on flesh and the occasional deeper thump as one or both hit the mat.
Within minutes they each had an eye swelling shut, and there was blood from noses, cuts and abrasions before they finished.
As they staggered off, both limping, Megan gritting her teeth and cradling her right arm, blood oozing into Kimberly's sports bra from a deep scratch on the exposed upper slope of her left boob, the steriliser robots rushing out to clean the mats behind them.
