Impostor Among Us
Chapter 3
by MagisterAthena
Tags:
#assimilation
#consensual_kink
#consensual_non-consent
#mystery
#no_sex_no_nudity
#realistic
#serial_recruitment
#resistance
The party gathered once more. Three of the seven were now Impostors. Two people had lost their free will, being subverted to the Impostor’s ends. Even though the point was to try and catch the Impostor first, the Vampire couldn’t deny the allure of losing. That didn’t mean they were going to make it easy for the Impostors though.
The Trickster grinned, taking the lead in the group’s investigation. “Well, we’ve now reached the interesting stage of things. It doesn’t even matter if one person had an alibi, because this time there were two Impostors! So, did anyone see anything suspicious?”
“Well, you’ve been very quick to take charge,” the Mesmerist drawled, clearly recovered from her earlier fluster. “Perhaps you’ve been taking the opportunity to lead everyone astray?”
“And you,” the Mesmerist continued, looking at the Vampire. “You had a go at hypnotising me earlier — that would seem to point to you as the Impostor!”
The Confuser looked ready to interject, but the Vampire beat xem to it. “What about you? You’ve been throwing accusations around this whole time — methinks you doth protest too much, milady.”
The Confuser chimed in once the Vampire was done, extending an arm of xir jumpsuit across the table, covered in bright patterns and interlocking shapes. “Even the innocents have been going around hypnotically messing with each other — that’s part of the fun of this! I’ve definitely gone at least a little bit into a confusion induction,” xe continued, nodding at the Trickster.
“Unfortunately, nobody’s been foolish enough to shake my hand,” the Magician grinned. She was dressed up in their red-and-black tailcoat, looking very sharp. Her flame-red bob was fully on display — she’d put their top hat on the coat rack, since most of the ceilings were low enough that it kept getting knocked off their head.
“Sounds like I’m not the only one having fun!” the Trickster cackled. “Shall we put it to the vote?”
Everyone agreed, and the Technologist once again tapped her tablet. The vote came up, and the Vampire put in the Mesmerist. Then the results came back: one abstention, two for the Trickster, and one for the Mesmerist — but no majority, so nobody was eliminated.
The Vampire grinned. “Well, this is starting to get interesting!”
The Vampire came into the kitchen, hoping for another mug of tea, when they came across the Magician, waiting at the coffee machine. “Well, fancy meeting you here!”
“A surprise indeed,” the Magician purred. “Lovely to see you here,” she said, putting out a hand for a handshake.
The Vampire twitched, automatically going for the handshake before thinking better of it. Instead, they chose to raise an eyebrow and look down at the Magician’s hand. “Planning to get me that easily, eh?” The Vampire turned away, going to fill the kettle.
“Well, I’ve got to give it a try, after all. Honestly, it’s like nobody trusts anyone these days!”
The Vampire laughed. “I rather think that nobody trusts you. You’ve gotten all of us at one point or another with your pattern interrupts.”
The Magician shook their head. “Good grief, if I was the Impostor I’d have a hard time of it. Nobody’s willing to shake my hand or even give me a hug! How else would I be supposed to get anyone?”
The Vampire smirked. "Well, good luck with that!" The Vampire set the kettle going, and for a moment, there was just the clunking of the coffee machine, and the bubbling of the kettle. “Still drinking that horrifying brew, I see?” the Vampire taunted.
“Well, I need it to stay awake with the likes of you around. It’d be far too easy to look deep… into your eyes…” the Magician trailed off, obviously faking going into trance, before breaking off and grinning.
The Vampire laughed, then stimmed happily. “Gods, this is such a fun time!”
The Magician chuckled along too, as the Vampire turned around to start preparing the tea itself. There was a moment of quiet, and then the door creaked open — the Vampire turned to see the Confuser, similarly bearing a mug, resplendent in xir bright jumpsuit.
“Oh! Hello there!” The Magician greeted the Confuser, sounding a little surprised.
“Hey! I’ve come for my dose of caffeine, as per usual!” The Confuser said, xir swift words smoothly blending together.
Then, all three of their phones went off — an Emergency Meeting had been called. The Vampire and the Magician picked up their respective beverages, and the Confuser left empty-handed, as all made their way back to the table.
The Impostor snuck towards the Trickster. They seemed distracted, standing at the interior balcony that looked over what used to be the factory floor — and the Impostor couldn’t pass up that opportunity. The Impostor crept up behind, holding a pair of headphones at the ready. They’d set up an overloading mix of binaurals and subliminals — combined with the general atmosphere of the day and a dash of surprise, it’d do most of the heavy lifting for them.
The Impostor’s feet trod quietly on the carpet, sneaking through the bedroom, the door safely closed behind them. When they were just a meter away — they pounced.
Looping the headphones over the Trickster’s ears, letting those hypnotic sounds seep directly into their brain. Pulling the Trickster backwards, keeping him off-balance and overwhelmed enough not to be able to do anything, making the Trickster feel like they were falling as trance washed over him.
Moments later, the Trickster was lying on the floor, sinking deeper with every moment their brain was melted by the headphones. His eyes fluttered, glazing over as he listened to the recorded suggestions. The Impostor grinned, ready to turn them into yet another Impostor.
Then the door clicked open behind them. The Impostor barely caught a glimpse of the intruder’s face, eyes wide, with a shocked expression. Then the intruder was gone, hurriedly scrambling at their phone — clearly to hit the button to call for an Emergency Meeting.
The Impostor cursed, and then quickly turned back to the Trickster, now deep in trance. They wouldn’t have long to salvage things…