He swung the pendulum before my eyes. The dim light in the chamber glinted off the metal disc. He spoke in a calm, even voice.

“Your eyes are drawn to the gentle rhythm of the coin as it swings back and forth, back and forth. Every swing leading inevitably to the next, just as each motion inevitably draws you down deeper and deeper into trance. Soon those pretty, green eyes will be so heavy and tired that they can’t help but close, can’t help but surrender, can’t help but,” he droned.

“NEXT!” I yelled, cutting him off.

“What? Really, Lisa? I thought I totally had you there. You looked really tired and everything,” the young man whined. He lowered his pendulum dejectedly to the table. It made a sad clinking noise as it hit the metal surface.

I sighed, my patience already growing thin for the day. “You’re mistaking boredom for trance. Trying to bore me into trance might be enough to work, but that’s not what you did. You relied on the oldest trick in the book.”

“But it’s a classic,” he stammered.

I tried to look consoling and not like I was counting the minutes until 5:00. “It is a classic. But you have to tailor your induction to your subject and you should understand that someone in my position has seen that a thousand times. The Supreme Master tasked me with training all of you. Don’t you think I’ve seen enough pendulum inductions?” I explained slowly. “If you want to be a Master, bending innocent victims to your will, you’ll have to do better. You can try again next week. Now leave the examination room please.”

“Okay,” he sighed, defeated. He pushed his chair back, making a sharp scraping noise on the concrete floor. I winced. It was too early for such loud noises. I took another deep sip of coffee.

Honestly when The Supreme Master recruited me, this wasn’t what I had in mind. He told me I would be helping him dominate the world as his obedient slave. I still remember those heady fantasies of being a slave girl tied up to his bed, completely helpless and hungry for him. I thought I might be his lieutenant, hanging off his arm in a tight leather jumpsuit, while he brought world leaders to their knees.

The last thing I imagined was serving as a teacher/training dummy for his next generation of evil hypnotists. These kids had no idea what they were doing. I say kids, they were all early 20’s, but they didn’t know the first thing about inductions. I hadn’t had a decent trance in months. They’re lucky The Supreme Master commanded me to do this or I would walk right out of this secret, underground compound. In a way it was cruel what The Supreme Master did to me. He took a woman who loves the feeling of losing herself in hypnosis and surrounded her with a bunch of rank amateurs. Oh well. It’s not like I could ever defy him, even if I hated this job.

The next student entered the room. She wore glasses and carried a shiny, plastic briefcase. I had her name written down in my notes, but I stopped paying attention to their names a long time ago. What did it matter? They were all the same person to me, and that person didn’t know how to give me the sweet release of oblivion that I craved so badly.

Nonetheless this one moved with a confident swagger. “Good morning Lisa, or should I say my future slave,” she said smugly.

Ha if only that were true.

She set her briefcase down on the table. The clasps released with a click. Then she turned it to face me and swung the lid open. It revealed a bulky, white virtual reality headset, sitting in black foam. “Put this on Lisa. It’ll be the last thing you do of your own free will,” she cooed.

I sighed trying not to openly roll my eyes. This girl really thought I’d never seen a brainwashing rig before. But I put it on. The strap hugged tightly across by chestnut hair. The headset completely captured my vision and my hearing, plunging the world into a silent darkness. But that darkness lasted only a moment. The screen flared to life, and I found myself staring into a panoramic kaleidoscope of color. My eyes would follow one shimmering thread of a hue before it would melt away and leave my gaze blank and unfocused.

At the same time, the speakers began pounding a relentless thrum into my ears. Any time I tried to form a thought, the steady pounding shook it out of my head. Underneath the bass I could hear a recording of the young woman’s voice. I could only make out a few words, “Obey . . . Submit . . . Pleasure . . . Lick.” But I knew my subconscious self was hearing all of them. My attention was totally captured, my thoughts fragmented, my subconscious eagerly accepting the programming of my new mistress. I imagined letting go for her, surrendering my mind and body to this young woman’s every desire. It felt wonderful. If felt so close. So close.”

“Heavy . . .” I mumbled in a dull monotone.

“That’s right Lisa. You’re feeling so heavy, so sleepy,” she replied.

“No, Heavy,” I said, more color returning to my voice.

“What?” The first cracks appeared in her veneer of unshakable confidence.

“The headset is too heavy,” I finally managed to say. I reached up and pulled the thing off my face. The world spun as my vision returned to the dimly lit exam room. For a moment my ears longed for the sweet whispers of her programming, the gentle promises of mindless servitude. I longed for them to be true so badly. But I couldn’t totally lose myself to them when the weight of the contraption felt like it was about to pull my neck over.

“Oh, I see,” She said, bravado evaporating. Her head fell, nearly sending her glasses tumbling down to the ground.

I did actually feel a little bad for this one. “Don’t look so sad. You were really close. The programming file itself worked well. You almost had me. Just get the weight down on the hardware and you might have it next week,” I said with a hint of encouragement.

“Okay. Thanks Lisa,” she said in a small voice. Then she packed up her rig and turned to leave.

“Don’t beat yourself up. You’re the best I’ve had all day,” I offered.

“I’m the second one to try today,” she answered flatly.

“Still, it’s true.” I said. Then she turned and left the room. I really hoped she would figure it out next week.

I could start to feel it, the delicious bliss of trance. It was so easy to picture myself giving in, kneeling naked before my new mistress, unable to think or resist at all. She could use me as a footstool, make me crave the taste of her, bend me over the table and fuck me with a strap on, anything she desired. It reminded me of the old days, before I got so experienced and jaded, before I did this for a living. Entering trance was so easy back then. All it took was some pretty lights on a computer screen or some honeyed words in a warm whisper. My hand started to drift between my legs as I lost myself in my memories. But then reality caught up to me.

Oh well. Maybe next week I’d get to feel that again. So far today was just another day of going through the motions. “NEXT,” I yelled.

The third student entered right away. He didn’t say anything as he came in, didn’t bring any props or tools. He just sat down, leaned back in the chair across from me and steepled his fingers.

After a moment of awkward silence, I spoke. “Well?” I asked with an obvious tinge of impatience coloring my voice.

“Well what?” He asked calmly.

“Aren’t you going to try and hypnotize me?”

“Oh I already am,” he responded, not moving from his relaxed posture.

“How?” I asked, looking around the room. What was I missing?

“By the time you realize, it’ll be too late,” he said with the faintest hint of a smile.

Those words sent a shiver up my spine. The thought that he had totally snuck something past me was so hot. Still I had to figure out what he was up to.

I watched his fingers. Maybe he was weaving them in a subtle, intricate motion that would captivate my subconscious attention and leave me open to his commands. But he wasn’t moving them at all. He just sat there.

Then I closed my eyes and focused on my hearing. Perhaps he had filled the room with an insidious subliminal sound that would file away at my willpower until I didn’t even notice that all my thoughts had been replaced by the one’s he gave me. Just the idea of that lit an ember of heat between my legs. Though if he was doing that it was imperceptible.

I turned my attention to my nose. He could have filled the space with a heady blend of pheromones. Their sweet scent could have been stoking my arousal until all my thoughts leaked out through my dripping pussy. It would leave me a wet, quivering mess, so desperate and needy that I would happily obey anything for the slightest taste of his cock. I hoped it was that one, but I couldn’t smell anything.

Then I realized he was talking. How long had he been talking? I got so lost in my fantasies I had zoned out.

“That’s it Lisa. You’re trying so hard to figure it out now. Your mind is racing through scenario after scenario of how I could be trapping you, gently twisting your mind around my finger,” he said in a deep baritone.

“Uh-huh,” I mumbled still lost in thought, imagining my own senses betraying me. I had a distant awareness that I was doing exactly what he said. But I couldn’t focus on that. The fantasies were too sweet to tear myself away from.

“That’s it. You’re doing perfectly. The more you imagine those ideas the more real they feel to you,” he instructed.

Of course, I was already obeying. My daydreams had been my only solace for the last few years, and suddenly they felt like they were all coming true at once. I slipped my hand under the waistband of my skirt and started to play. I couldn’t help it. Why would I want to be in this tiny exam room when I could be so lost in my master’s eyes that I even forget who I was. Who was I anyway? What was my name? I couldn’t remember and I didn’t care. My fantasies were coming true, and that’s all that mattered.

“In fact you’re so lost in your own imagination now that you couldn’t wake up if you wanted to. Go ahead and try to wake up now, but every time you try, your subconscious just swallows you up in another dream of surrendering to me,” he said in that voice of his.

A flicker of awareness sparked in my horny, sleepy mind. It was my imagination! He was hypnotizing me with my own imagination! So devious. But I was onto him now. I tried to stir myself from my daydreams. I broke away from his captivating gaze in my mind. But as soon as I did, I imagined him snapping his fingers and my head collapsing to my chest. My own drool pooling between my breasts. But I managed to shake out of it. I raised my head just in time for him to place a mind control chip on my forehead. Then I couldn’t even form thoughts of resistance anymore. The very neurons in my brain submitted to my master’s will, not mine. I knew it was over. Even if I could pull the chip away, my mind would have another tantalizing fantasy ready for me to lose myself in. He had me, he really had me!

“Now stop resisting slave and just enjoy yourself.”

“Yes Master,” I sighed happily. I stopped resisting. Every twisted desire my own mind could come up with flooded my awareness at once. The fingers, the subliminals, the pheromones, the gaze, the touch, the longing, the sweet release of surrender. The fantasies rushed through me, blending into a joyous haze of submission.

“Open your eyes and strip for me,” Master said.

I obeyed. Even with my eyes open, I still saw the visions dancing through my mind’s eye. I moved with a fluid grace, unbuttoning my shirt, sliding out of my skirt. My bra and soaked panties followed next. I let my clothing pool on the floor, relishing master’s gaze on my flesh. I knew I was beautiful and I could tell my master knew it too. I could tell he was beginning to lose himself to his own fantasies, as he watched me.

“Now crawl under the table and suck me off,” he commanded.

I complied instantly. The cold concrete tried to leach the heat from my hands and knees. But it couldn’t dampen the roaring fire of desire raging inside me. I undid my master’s pants effortlessly. Then I saw him in all his glory. I took him into my mouth, bobbing happily up and down. Suddenly pleasuring my master was all I wanted in the world. The weeks of drudgery and failed trances, the cramped living quarters and bad pay, they all melted away.

In the back of my mind I knew it would never last. Eventually master would return my mind to me and I would have to graduate him. That was always the worst part. If a talented ’tist did walk through that door, I’d only get one session with them. Then they’d be off helping The Supreme Master conquer the world. I would be stuck here with the rejects. But none of that mattered just then. At that moment I was just a slave, kneeling before her master and basking in the glow of surrender. Maybe nothing would really change, but at least I had today. And today was a good day.