"have you been good?" adrianus asked, looming over him.

victor was on the ground below them, wrapped in their webs. they were thick enough to provide some cushion, so it hadn't been too uncomfortable, but he was certainly looking forward to being freed. he had no clue how long they had left him there.

"well, as you can see, i haven't moved..." he said. not that he could have even if he wanted to.

they crouched down, pulling out a knife. "oh, good boy. you've been so patient."

it was demeaning to be praised like that, especially for something he didn't have a choice in to begin with.

they carefully began cutting through the webs. it did make him a bit nervous, seeing them hold a blade so close to him, even if he knew they were precise and had a steady hand.

"just hold still for me," they murmured.

it was remarkable how often he heard that exact phrase from them.

"did you... were you able to meet with jim?" he asked.

"oh, yes. it went very well."

"...did you hypnotize him?"

they stopped cutting through the webs for a moment to look at him, still smiling pleasantly. "what do you think?"

they clearly did.

he wasn't really sure how to feel about that. jim was his rival, after all, and though victor had technically hypnotized him as well, it was rather brief. adrianus must have been in control the entire time. they were so much better at it than he was.

not only that, but victor didn't even get to watch. he had been stuck here, so as to not interfere with their first meeting. the one time he had tried to assert himself, the one time he insisted on arguing with them, on defying them, telling them that he was coming with them, whether they liked it or not... and he ended up trapped in webs, unable to do anything until they came back.

the thought of it made his heart pound and his face burn. it was impossible not to feel like he was beneath them.

"it's alright, victor," they cooed. "you know, jim told me i should reward you."

"he did?"

"he told me i should brainwash you, as a reward for all the waiting you've had to do. and i agree. i think it would be a very good reward for you."

he shivered.

"shh... i told you to hold still, now. i'm not quite done freeing you. you haven't forgotten that i have a knife in my hand?"

"i-i'm sorry, it was involuntary."

"i suppose i should be careful when i say that word around you. it always makes you so excited, doesn't it? then again, i can say just about anything in that tone of voice, and you'll react just the same, won't you?"

"i'm not a dog," he said, his face feeling hotter.

"i didn't say you were."

"you- you're doing it on purpose. you're treating me as if i'm- it's like how people avoid saying the word 'walk' around their dogs. that's exactly what you were thinking of, isn't it? and how people tease their dogs by saying random things in a high-pitched voice and making them get excited over it..."

they simply continued cutting him loose.

"you called me a good boy earlier. you're absolutely treating me like a dog. do you think i don't notice?"

they laughed quietly. "oh, of course you notice."

"you- you're just admitting it!"

"i am," they replied. "do you have an issue with it?"

they asked as if they already knew the answer, or perhaps as if there was only one answer they would accept.

half of his body was still wrapped up in their webs.

"it- it's just-" a wave of heat washed over him. "it's a bit... it feels a bit... strange. maybe a bit... embarrassing, or... you know, demeaning..."

"and that's how it should feel."

he blinked. "excuse me?"

"that's exactly how you should feel right now, victor."

his whole spine was tingling. he couldn't help but squirm again, even knowing he should stay still.

this time, they put a hand on him, to better hold him in place. "just be good," they whispered.

he had no argument. he found himself being quiet and listening purely because he was at a complete loss for words.

they finished cutting through the web, finally freeing him, but he still did not move until they indicated that they wanted him to.

"how are you feeling?" they asked, helping him up.

"...embarrassed?"

they laughed, though it was barely audible. "do you feel sore, or weak, in a physical sense? do you feel any pain?"

that was what they meant... "i do feel a bit stiff."

"let's do some stretches."

it did make sense, after he had been stuck in the same position for an extended period of time.

still, as they moved and guided his body, it seemed like another convenient excuse for them to be close to him, to touch him. and as gentle as they were, they did seem to enjoy pushing him just a bit too much, encouraging him to hold a few stretches to the point where it was overwhelming, and almost painful. it felt slightly sadistic of them - they cooed at him more, the more he complained or grunted, in a way that seemed less about comforting him, and more about expressing their own pleasure at his responses.

though he did feel much better after the stretching was over. he had the thought that he might become more flexible if he allowed them to do this with him regularly. it was alright to take advantage of this, for the sake of his health, wasn't it? he wasn't simply just... eager to please them. even if he had been conditioned to respond to their praise, and he had received praise after every stretch. even if he had... listened to them, and done exactly as they said, and held it for as long as they told him, no matter how intense it felt. it just seemed as if they knew what they were doing. it made sense for him to listen.

but, as he stood there, thinking about this, feeling the relaxation in his body, he knew. he was already in a light trance, and he had been for a while. it was becoming easier and more automatic to give in to them like this.

adrianus put a hand on his shoulder. "very good. let's get you a snack, as well. are you hungry?"

"yes," he said quietly, a little blankly. "i-i could eat, i mean."

"it makes sense that you would be."

it was a perfectly reasonable statement that was already true, but when they said it, it felt as if it became more true.

he couldn't already be feeling like this, reacting like this. they said earlier that they were going to brainwash him, but at this rate, it wouldn't make much of a difference.

he tried to focus his eyes, to blink it off, but that strange, fuzzy feeling wouldn't leave his head.

"i have some snacks in the break room," they said, taking his hand. "let's go eat."

he allowed them to guide him there.

he had never actually been to the break room before, and hadn't even known it was there. they seemed to just change the lab and add things as they pleased, without even telling him. he wondered what else might have been hiding in some of those rooms he had never entered.

the break room was comfortable, but more sleek than the rooms in adrianus' house, more fitting for a room in an evil laboratory. they made him some tea, and gave him some sandwiches, as well as some biscuits that vaguely reminded him of dog treats, though they were good. he hadn't been wrapped up long enough to be starving, but it was nice having some food, and sitting somewhere other than that dark hallway.

now that he thought of it, he should have been much more indignant about being trapped there. then again, victor always strapped jim to chairs and tables and stuck him in cages himself. but that certainly felt different from this. jim wasn't going anywhere, anyway. adrianus specifically did it to stop victor... to... put him in his place.

he almost shuddered, just thinking about it. even in a situation where he could mentally resist them, they could physically overpower him, and render him entirely helpless, so that even his mind would become more vulnerable. it wasn't just that they had the power to force him to do as they pleased - they had the power to make him accept that. even now, as he tried to muster up some anger, or at least annoyance, at being wrapped up in webs and unable to move, he simply didn't feel it.

after all, while it had been sort of boring being unable to do anything, and he did want to see how their meeting with jim went... it was... the first time adrianus had done anything to him that resembled a punishment, the first time they exerted their power in a way that felt so blatant and that so clearly went against his will. they were almost a bit scary, in a way they had never been before. and, naturally, as a villain, he... had an appreciation for such a thing. he had to respect how evil they had seemed in that moment.

"enjoying your tea?" adrianus asked. they had been focused on him the entire time.

"oh, yes. it's nice."

"that's good. it's important to be fed and hydrated. i want you to be ready for your reward, after all."

he wasn't sure if referring to it that way was better or worse than just outright saying it.

"you- you know, that was... it was you and jim who decided on that for my reward, wasn't it? i didn't ask for that."

"people don't always choose their own rewards, do they?"

"i just can't help but feel like it's... more of a reward for you than it is for me."

"but you love being brainwashed, don't you, victor?"

shivers crawled up his spine. he had walked right into that one.

he didn't answer.

"of course it's the perfect reward for you. after all of that waiting, all of that time alone, you get some time with me. you get to be my mindless, obedient drone. won't that be nice?"

they were using that slow, hypnotic tone he was weak to. without thinking, he found himself relaxing and listening, his eyes staring ahead.

it did sound nice. he was supposed to be arguing with them, but he had trouble finding anything to argue with. even if this was more for them than it was for him, was that really a problem?

"being brainwashed is good for you," they continued. "you should take any opportunity you can to be brainwashed."

he could feel the blush spreading through his face. he loved those sorts of phrases. perhaps because they were so transparent, so obviously the words of someone who just wants to control you. it was creepy, it was evil. and yet, a part of him truly believed it. it did feel like it was good for him.

even the idea that he was being tricked only made it feel better.

"oh, look at that," they said softly. "you're falling so easily now, aren't you? you've been especially sensitive today. you'll make a very good drone."

"i'm glad you think so," he responded. even in his trance, he thought he sounded a bit too eager and submissive, to the point where he must have seemed pathetic, but the words had already slipped out.

they looked especially pleased with him for it, however, and his embarrassment quickly faded. "let's go get ready for that, then."

they brought him to the dressing room, and helped him into a latex suit. the process of getting it on wasn't his favorite, but when they zipped up the back, he felt the way it squeezed around his whole body. he looked at himself in the mirror, as they ran their hand along the material, on his waist.

"it suits you," they said.

never before had he felt so much like a thing to be possessed.

their other hand moved to his arm, down to his hand, feeling between his fingers. "your hands fit perfectly, as well." they locked their fingers with his, rubbing his hand with their thumb.

somehow, it was the hand holding that felt the most inappropriate out of all of this. these tender, indulgent, almost romantic touches were just their way of feeling how tight the suit was, and enjoying the sensation of the material against their skin. they loved when he was wrapped up tightly in something. like an insect in a web. like prey.

but he just stood there, staring at his own wide-eyed expression. he looked helpless. he looked like someone who was going to be brainwashed. and he looked like he was entirely theirs.

"i like that face you're making," they whispered, near his ear, "but i suppose i should get you your visor and headphones, too."

even when they stepped away for a moment, he didn't move, still shuddering from how they said that.

he allowed them to slip the visor over his eyes, which only darkened his vision the way sunglasses would. they then stuck headphones on each of his ears, which strangely didn't seem to muffle his hearing. they had antennas coming out of them, which adrianus adjusted, and as they did, it almost felt as if those antennas were a part of his body, an oddly sensitive and fragile part of it.

now he really looked more like some sort of robot than a human being. with his eyes covered, his expression was unreadable.

"there you go," they said. "you're ready now. how does that feel?"

he didn't quite know how to answer that. it was such a new, complex feeling. he couldn't describe it.

but he felt he should answer them. "it... it feels... good," he said.

"it does feel good. you're going to be brainwashed. that always feels good, doesn't it?"

"yes..."

he saw it in the mirror, the way his posture changed, how automatic the reaction was. the sight of himself already acting like a mindless drone had made resistance feel all the more futile.

and besides that, it did feel good. he hadn't felt completely sure of it when he said it at first, but when they repeated it to him, he felt a wave of euphoria. he liked the way the tightness of the suit made him feel trapped and exposed, he liked the way the visor made everything a bit dark and fuzzy, the slight blue tint giving his environment a dreamy, sleepy feeling. and he liked the way he appeared in the mirror, blank, empty, and obedient... and appealing, in a very particular way, to a very particular person.

out of his peripheral vision, he noticed adrianus taking something out of their pocket. a remote.

"we're not... going to the... chair?" he asked.

"if i want you to be a drone, i'll need you to remain mindless and obedient. that's why the brainwashing devices must be wearable."

before he could process that, they pressed some buttons, and he heard their voice echoing inside his head, overlapping whispers and murmurs about listening, obeying, giving in.

it overwhelmed him so much that he couldn't stand any longer, dropping to the ground, his hands instinctively clutching the headphones.

"the suit itself can be controlled, as well," they said.

his hands were forced away from the headphones, his arms being pulled down to his sides.

"and of course, there's the visor."

his vision went black. between that, the voices echoing in his mind, and the suit preventing him from moving, he felt almost completely disconnected from the physical world, as if he had been shut down, unplugged.

the only thing tethering him to the outside world was adrianus' real voice, which he could still distinguish from the ones in the headphones. "it feels very different being brainwashed this way, doesn't it?"

"it does," he responded, unsure if he was really even talking or simply thinking it.

a slow, simple spiral appeared in the darkness.

"it feels good," they said.

"it feels good," he repeated.

"you're going to be completely mindless and obedient."

he believed it. it felt inevitable.

"you're going to be completely brainwashed."

the word still sent tingles through his entire body, through his mind, through whatever he was right now.

"you know that you can't resist. and that's alright. it feels even better to give in."

his thoughts were being erased. massaged out of him by the sounds.

he felt a touch on his head. their touch. they were petting him.

"very good," they said softly. "just like that. you're being so good for me."

it was pure pleasure. there was already nothing left but the desire to obey, the desire for their praise. that was all there needed to be.