My Friend (hypno)
by irrcapt
It was just all one big puzzle to Liam, and he hated being baffled. If he could understand why Marshal had stopped hanging out with him, then maybe he could stop thinking about it. But the cutoff had been so sudden. Just a few weeks ago they had been relatively inseparable, good friends in a new city they didn't really know. Now Liam stayed at home every night, chatting online, having gotten the message after the 6th "too busy to hang out" line he'd been fed. Had something been said? Done? Not done? He just didn't know.
Which was why, when Marshal showed up at his door he'd been rather shocked. Though that also might have been the apparent 10 pounds of muscle pounds of muscle his friend had put on in that time. "Marshal? What are you doing here?"
"What, I can't visit a good friend? Let me in, dude." Marshal said as he pushed past.
"What the hell have you been up to? I haven't seen you in weeks, and you never seemed to want to get together anymore." Liam's voice had a tinge of bitterness as he closed the door.
"Sorry, dude. I met some really intense people at a party, and we were just doing stuff every night. It was really whirlwind." Marshal dug around in his pockets. "In fact, I was going to invite you along for tonight's romp, but I need to show you something first." he pulled a small black box and put it on a table.
Liam raised an eyebrow. "I need to see something before I can come along? That's weird."
"I thought so too, but I know it's for a good reason now. The lights are really intense at their private parties, and they want to make sure you won't start twitching when you see them."
"They have private parties? Who the hell are these guys?"
"Some real party animals, I can tell you, and some of them are really rich. I mean, look at this tech." Marshal pushed a button on the black box.
Suddenly, the box was glowing, rapidly shifting through multiple colors. Small spotlights shone, throwing whirling red and yellow spirals onto the walls, moving them around in complex, twisting patterns. "Wow!" Liam said, blinking heavily. "That's really spectacular!"
"I know, right. It really helps get you into that fun party zone."
Liam was still blinking rapidly, trying to keep up with the sensory blast the box was making, turning his head a little fuzzy. "What do you mean?"
"You know, that part of the party when you're dancing and drinking and chatting and you lose track of time. You're so focused and in the moment that they all start to blur together." Marshal's tone had changed, becoming more monotone and quieter.
Meanwhile, Liam's brain was reeling. The flashing lights the spinning spirals whirling around his head, all of it was making it really hard to think. Only Marshal's words seemed to cut through the noise. A part of his brain was trying to warn him that this might be that bad reaction the Marshal had been talking about, but he couldn't focus on that thought long enough to form a sentence. The only thing he seemed to be able to respond to was Marshal's words. Liam's head nodded as he agreed. "Yeah, blurry."
"Exactly. But you don't have to focus on those moments. You're having too much fun by then to really want to anyway. Everything can just float by and you can have a great time, even if you're just staring at the spirals." Liam's mouth fell open as he followed the embedded instructions in his friends description. His eyes whirled round and around, trying to follow the spotlights as they danced around, unaware they themselves were following a spiraling pattern. Each light would reach the center and then escape it, but not before another could be followed into the center and spun with. "Just like that, my friend. And when you're in that state, you can just follow your friends lead. He'll make sure you're safe. Just listen to his instructions and follow them and you'll be just fine."
"Yes, listen and follow instructions." Liam said in a deadpan voice, his brain losing traction completely. At that point, Liam lost track of time. The world didn't have anything to pay attention to except for Marshal's voice. He vaguely remembered locking his door, going to a car, sitting in the car, staring at the spiral, but as he started to slip out of trance he realized that those were just instructions he remembered hearing, not the actual events. Now he was walking down a corridor in what looked like a rich mansion. Marshal was guiding him along and Liam couldn't seem to stop himself. "Whu-What's goin-" was all he could say before emerging into a richly appointed room.
Though there was some things in the room that could have stopped anyone from speaking, from the half naked attendants standing at attention in various places to the elegantly dressed man sitting on a divan in the center of the room, what stopped Liam were the whirling yellow and red lights, just like on the box. His mind slipped and he was back in that floating space, though slightly more aware of his surroundings than he had been in the car.
Marshal's voice rang out crisply, a if he was reporting in to a drill sergeant. "My friend, as you requested, Master."
The elegantly dressed man smiled as he appraised Liam. "What's your name, boi?"
"Liam, sir."
"Hrmm, I'm sir already. He's more submissive then you were, Marshal. It shouldn't take nearly as long to permanently edit his mind. Take him to the washing station, and then resume your station here. We still need to bulk you up." Liam was turned from the room and guided to another, where he began to learn all about his new life from the beautiful whirling spirals.
END