My name is Nichole Braddock and I have become the Hypno Harpy, one of Hypnoman’s prized recruiters. Attached to my bodysuit is an array of some of the same lights that first entranced me. I wear goggles that emit a similar pattern as well as a few on my gloves. They randomly change color and pulse. I have already stripped over a dozen women of their free will with just my gaze alone. The suit is also rigged to be able to glide.

Beside me is Lola Saldana, my friend since childhood and as of now, the Somno Siren. While my methods rely on sight, Lola’s rely on sound. After hearing her sing, Hypnoman rigged her suit to add subsonic undertones to her voice meant to lull her victims into trances. The women in Lola’s family have been amazing singers for generations, and now her heritage is a weapon in Hypnoman’s arsenal. Her voice has warped the minds of many women into obedience.

Our new home is a huge mansion overlooking Engine City. It went by the name Turnbull Manor for over a century because one of the city’s founders lived there. It used to belong to an oil executive who got rumbled for not paying taxes a few years back. It was the bank’s property until three weeks ago.

Ever since our master took up residence, with money provided by some of his wealthier Sleepwalkers, it goes by another name. A secret name.

Chateau Svengali. 

Its maids and groundskeepers are all Sleepwalkers, many of whom live in town and work under the guise of employees. They are happy to labor for Hypnoman, who sleeps in the master bedroom when not in his workshop with the more tech talented Sleepwalkers. We’ve brought some very powerful computer equipment and are looking to spread our master’s influence online. 

Refining our methods of communication with Sleepwalkers and disseminating orders is a top priority so we’re looking into designing websites that only Sleepwalkers will be able to access or some kind of app. I suggested that if we make an app that we call it ‘Dreamr’. It would take some time before we have something like that up and running, I’m told. I don’t know that many details but from what I understand there are some problems with running an app that aren’t present in running a website. Hypnoman doesn’t rush the Sleepwalkers taking care of our technical needs. In his wisdom, he understands that just because he controls them doesn’t mean he can’t expect the impossible from them.

I’ve called this place home for all the time it has been Hypnoman’s, and I loved it almost instantly. Lola likes it too. She and I are roommates now. 

According to our contacts in the police, we’re both listed as missing. The cops visited my family the day after we were brought to Chateau Svengali to interview them. According to the report, my little sister Ava was despondent. So was my older brother Tyler. 

When Hypnoman found out about this and told me, I wanted nothing more than to bring Ava under his control. I wanted her to feel the same bliss that I did. It would only deepen the bond between us. I’d have a true sister Sleepwalker.

For the time being though, Lola and I were out near Palm Grove for a ‘recruitment drive’. It was pretty quiet this time of night. Perfect for our purposes. Hypnoman didn’t send us out every night and made sure to have us go recruiting in different parts of town when he did. It made it more difficult for the police to find out where we were. 

We spied a group of girls in roughed up looking street clothes. This place was known to have some level of gang activity. Wonderful, we could always use some more muscle.

We dove right behind them, spooking the girls. None of them seemed to have a gun but a few of them took out switchblades.

“Who the fuck are you freaks?!” one of them asked.

Lola smiled and began to sing.

“Listen, my dears, to my song, and sleep. Let it pull you into a trance so deep. To your woes and fears, be blind. Let my words slip into your mind.”

The girl’s eyes started to glaze over. Her cohorts began to appear dazed as well. I strolled up to two of them, making sure they could see the lights of my goggles. I also put my hands in front of them to make sure they went under as soon as possible.

“Petty crime is just so drole and bland.” Lola sang. “Our master has designs more grand. We can show you a better way. But first you must submit and obey.”

“I submit…” one of the girls said dreamily “I submit and I obey.”

I cupped the chins of the two girls in front of me.

“And what about you two? Wanna join your friend?” They both nodded. 

“We submit, we obey.” they replied.

“Glad to hear it.” I told them. Feeling a bit naughty, I smacked them both on their asses. They both gasped but didn’t break out of their trances. I sometimes acted that way around the other Sleepwalkers at Chateau Svengali, a pinch on the butt here, a boob squeeze there. I’m not sure if it’s because of Hypnoman’s influence or it’s just me being weird but I’m not gonna complain.

We moved into a slightly more traffic area and repeated our ‘performance’. The thuggish girls helped drive off some of the guys nearby with their knives. We netted around fifteen women that time, making them gather around us. I almost gasped when I saw who was listlessly swaying side to side near a fountain.

No way, was that? Yes. Yes, it was.

I’d recognize that “Camillo's Grill” cap anywhere. My sister was in a part of town she didn’t usually frequent and was close enough to have heard Lola’s song. She wore a thick gray jacket and beanie.

Ava looked like she was still resisting though. She looked distressed instead of calm. I needed to fix that. I walked over to her.

“W-who are you?” she asked. 

I smiled.

“Can’t you recognize me, sis? Or has Hypnoman really made me that beautiful?”

Ava shook her head and trembled. If I had to guess, she still had more of her free will than I thought.

“No…no, you can’t be! You can’t-”

“Remember Chubbo? Cause I do.” Chubbo was the name of a stuffed hippo Ava had when she was little. She took it almost everywhere.

Ava turned pale.

“N-Nikky? What’s h-he done to you?”

“Hypnoman has given me purpose, one that you and I will share.”

Lola walked up next to me, the four entranced girls by her side.

“Let your fear and anger drain.” she sang to Ava. “Let your sister’s words into your brain. Keeping sisters apart is not our master’s way, you can serve alongside her if you submit and obey. You serve him as we do, it’s true, you can! All you must do is accept Hypnoman!”

“I…I….” There was a tear rolling down Ava’s cheek. I tenderly brushed it away with my glove. I used to help her calm down when she was scared of the monster under her bed. She was terrified, just as she was then. I took her hands in mine and made sure my goggles were right in front of her face.

“I love you, Ava. Hypnoman cannot change that, nor does he wish to. He’s wonderful, and soon, every woman in Engine City will see it. I want you to see it. Join me, Ava. Don’t you want to serve Hypnoman as a Sleepwalker, side by side with your big sis.” 

Ava smiled and I could see the spirals forming in her eyes.

“Yes…I want to serve Hypnoman…as a Sleepwalker…right beside you.” I hugged her. She gave in. 

“It means so much to me to hear you say that, Ava.” I told her. “Are Mom and Dad expecting you?”

“Yes…” Ava responded. I felt a twinge of frustration. I’d need to only give her a partial indoctrination.

“Alright Ava, I want you to listen carefully…”

A week later, I sat in the security room of the ‘Clear Mind’ Spa with two other Sleepwalkers. At 9:15 in the morning, Ava walked in with my mother and the two were taken to one of the massage rooms. Smiling, I got the hypnotic projector out from a drawer, then headed to them through the service corridors. She and Ava were lying face up on the massage tables, wearing only bath robes.

“Hiya mom.” I told her, smiling. She went white as a sheet.

“N-Nichole?” She could hardly speak. I took out the projector and hit her right in the face with its mind bending lights. Her eyes became spirals within seconds. Ava giggled.

“She went under quickly.” I nodded.

“You know what to do?” I asked her. She smiled and went still. The light of the hypnotic projector was engulfing her vision but her smile never wavered.

Ava was here to finish her brainwashing as well as bring my mother into the fold. 

“Ava, although you know our master is evil, it will delight you to do his will.”

“It delights me to do Hypnoman’s will.” she replied.

“You will bring other women under his control, just like you did with mom.”

“I will bring other women under his control, just like mom.” I turned to my mother.

“Mom, you will join us in serving Hypnoman as a Sleepwalker.” 

“I will…join you…in becoming a Sleepwalker…and serving Hypnoman.”

“You are proud of having both your daughters serve his evil schemes. Hypnoman is your master.”

“I am proud…of having both my daughters…serve his evil schemes.” She smiled. “Hypnoman is…my master.”

“You will seek to bring other women into his fold.”

“I will seek…to bring other women…into his fold.”

“You love the very idea of serving Hypnoman alongside your daughters.”

“I love…the very idea…of serving Hypnoman…with my daughters.” 

She was good and ready.

“Wakey wakey, mom.” I said. “Same for you sis.” They both blinked and shook their heads and my mom smiled when she saw me.

“Nichole, sweetie, it’s so good to see you again!” She wrapped her arms around me. 

“You too mom. I wish I could’ve let you knew-”

She put her finger on my lips.

“Hypnoman comes first, hon. You had your duties as a Sleepwalker. And now, so do Ava and I.”

She let out a girlish giggle that caught Ava and I off guard.

“Oh, it feels so good! Both of my little girls have been chosen to serve Hypnoman!” 

She grinned evilly.

“And to think Lydia’s got reason to brag just because her thick headed son’s got a job at that law firm!”

I laughed a bit. Lydia was another member of Engine City’s high society and a particularly obnoxious braggart. My parents hated her and even when I was in grade school I knew why. Her son Gene hit on me a few times at functions and I wanted to beat him over the head with a vase whenever he walked near me.

My mom laughed.

“Oh, your kid’s got a job working for a big name lawyer? Come talk to me when they’ve turned some of their female friends into Sleepwalkers.” Ava and I laughed with her.

“It’s nice to have you two on board.” I told them. “Enjoy the spa.”

I felt utter bliss when I left the room. Both of the most important women in my life now lived to serve my master. I couldn’t be any happier. The first chance I got, I’d show them around the Chateau Svengali. 

I’ve become something I never imagined thanks to Hypnoman. I regret nothing I’ve done to further his aims.

I am the Hypno Harpy, Hypnoman’s devoted servant. 

He commands and I obey.