The Pied Piper of Construction 3 (hypno)
by irrcapt
It was the first day on the new job for the Ophin Construction Company. It wasn't a very large company, so it dragged its offices around in the trailer of its owner, Hector Ophin, going to each site in turn. So that day, when Hector went to his office, he didn't notice the different sounds around it. His workers weren't due on the site for a few days, so all he could hear were the faint sounds from the other building site, and he could block that out.
Hector smiled as he sat behind his desk. He loved his job, having bought out the previous owners after college. He could show up in jeans and a tee shirt and be fine, and he never really got bored. Oh, he every so often did find the day to day of running the company dull, but when that happened he could switch jobs with one of his men and work it out. He'd been worried recently that he would go under. But he'd managed to land this contract for the smaller of two new commercial buildings, and the owner was so rushed the he'd hired two companies to build the buildings at the same time, and paid them both rush money, which would keep him solvent for some time.
At least as long as I get to work, Hector thought breaking his reverie and starting in on the materials orders. But for some reason he couldn't seem to focus in on them. He'd look over an invoice and have to read it a second time. He'd be in the middle of a call and space out, and the other side would have to prompt him to get the conversation going again. The only thing he seemed to be able to keep in his head were the sounds from the other site, and that couldn't be what was distracting him. He'd had to shut out much louder sounds, so that couldn't be it.
By the time lunch rolled around, Hector was starting to get exasperated with himself. Looking up from trying to calculate his payroll for the fifth time, he decided he was going to knock off early and go to the gym to workout. Something to work off whatever nervous energy that was keeping him from being able to focus. But as he locked up his office, he started to feel a pull towards the other site. He didn't know why, but he felt like he needed to visit it for some reason.
However, as he walked into the site, found it even harder to focus, although he thought that was just because of what he saw. Tons of men, all stripped to the waist, all blankly doing work without talking to each other. And the terrible music, played far too loud over the PA. It seemed to give him a headache. Struggling to think through the fog that was getting worse and worse, he eventually decided to talk to the other owner, and see what was going on. Turning, he marched to the office, keeping a tight hold as he could to keep his head from spinning.
Hector strode into the office and opened his mouth to introduce himself when he was stopped short. Looking at the man across from him, something in his head told him he should know the man, but he didn't know why. The foreman looked up and asked, “Hello? Can I help you?”
With the door automatically closing behind him, Hector could suddenly hear the music very clearly, and the fog around his mind thickened considerably. “Yeshhh, my na-name is Hector Ophin. I own tha' otha' site and wanna talk 'bout the mussic. Wha's yur name?” he said, his tongue hanging heavy in his mouth as he tried to talk through the fog.
“You don't really need to know that, Hector. It sounds like your brain is ready to pop. You can just call me master.”
Parts of Hector's brain warred with each other, one saying this was wrong and the other agreeing totally with the man. His head twitched and he tried to say something, but couldn't seem to control his mouth enough to say, “Nuh, nuh masseh.”
“But it's true Hector. Just listen to the music Hector and it will tell you everything you need to know.”
Hector's will finally gave out and the music flooded his brain. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he totally focused on what the music told him. For fifteen minutes he stood there, holding that pose as the music bent him to the foreman's will. Then his eyes stopped rolling and he looked forward at his new master, saying calmly, “What are your instructions, master?”
“First, as a standing instruction, unless I say otherwise, you never wear a shirt unless working with something that can burn you.” Hector quickly removed his shirt, revealing his tanned chest. “Good boy. Second, when do your men start work?”
“In three days master.”
“Excellent. That will give us the time to set up the speakers on your site. Once they're under my control I'll roll your company into mine. Until then, though, you can do some cleaning work. Go carry pallets to the trash until someone tells you my further orders.”
“I obey.” Hector said as he turned, walking out of the office and into his new subservient life.
