Sitting naked in a lotus pose on plush carpeting, Elowyn immersed herself deep into her own mindscape, an inner walled garden resembling the one on the Parnassus estate. She would've preferred to utilize the symbolic environment that morning, but it was occupied with staff and caterers for a party being held soon. She did not mind the alternate physical space much as her senses believed she was within her garden, leveled and flourishing, growing more sizable than the whole of the estate. Knowing exceptional Quants kept veritable fortresses inside their heads, Elowyn sought to unofficially join that tradition. Like the one kept in her brainwashing dungeon, a self-empowered mind built a true base of operations, currently dedicated to find any way possible to pierce Richard's hardened base.

The task seemed to be well underway, but she wouldn't be satisfied until the last vestige of him was hers. The task seemed harder to accomplish that morning with the sounds of distracting satisfaction coming from mere rooms away; Tennyson Sr. had his youthful Elowyn doppelganger scream extra loud while taking her from behind. Sounds of artificial pleasure were probably meant to annoy his real wife, but it made her half-smile instead as he screamed a bit too, in frustration. The Parnassus patriarch had been given bad news of their financial standing; competition cutting into profit margins plus deep holes in the family business, it took a consulting accounting specialist to discover the discrepancies. Behind the scenes, an ironic sense of waning authority coated their halls of power, and the great Mr. Parnassus had to take his angered passions out on someone before he had to look investors in the eye and lie to them about financial security.

Distant screams she guessed had been muffled inspired thoughts of Elowyn's own libido, how she could add pleasure to her session from the former Subprime now kowtowing to her every whim, how she would have the Quant kowtowing in-kind eventually. She bit her lip imagining her latest sauna visit, how peculiarly sultry it felt; opening herself up felt as good as opening Ella up, and how it was still likely the best means to bring her true prize to heel. With one final deep breath, she let a wave of pleasure roll over her form, awakening with a small droplet of pleasure staining the carpet. Instead of showering, she put on a silk robe and descended the mansion, looking to put other droplets to good use.

***

"A calm mind is controlled, is freed, is mine."

"A calm mind is controlled, is freed, is mine."

"A calm mind is controlled..."

Ceasing the mantra suddenly after noticing a significant change all around him, Richard emerged on the outskirts of consciousness, maintaining a narcoleptic state, assessing having been removed from the chamber. An article of clothing covering him felt cool over his hot skin; a pair of fitted briefs strained against an erection rising and falling to implanted thoughts of Mistress Elowyn, whom was close by, given away from the floral pheromone he could now identify as hers. He almost admired how much she was trying to be a queen bee of her hive without outright claiming the title, trying to convert a most valuable drone. Controlled breaths made him appear asleep, but filled with her scent caused enough of a reaction to imply otherwise.

"How nice it is to see you comfortable, yet 'standing' at attention today, my good man."

The praise circumvented stillness with a shiver and slightly-arched back. 

"Always happy to 'stand' for you, Mistress Elowyn," Vector nearly sneered, trying to move against the restraints that kept his legs down, adding bite to her authoritative title. Smirking at the seated contradiction once considered an indomitable Quant, she took a seat in-front of him, patting his bare leg. A stronger, involuntary gasp erupted as her fingers brushed against the strained fabric of his briefs, he felt the Soombakiya around his bellend, a sensation all too brief as that hand moved north to caress his cheek.

"I'm happy that you are happy, and how happy it makes me that your happiness grows more and more contingent on pleasing me."

He said nothing, sneering again, as much as dulled and stimulated muscles would allow.

"And for a short time, maybe you can make both of us happy, as you satisfy a curiosity I've had for some time," she said, pulling a familiar trinket out of the pocket of her silk robe - his pendant. The last time he saw it was in his hands to help Ella assume her duties as Subprime, now in the hands of one of their indirect targets.

"Ella told me all about how special this little bauble is, the profound effect its had, beholden to every micro movement and swing once brandished."

Hanging from a simple chain and silver key ring at the other end, the pendant itself was a cylinder-shaped topaz stone, possessing not only shimmering surface facets of a yellowish-bronze, but at least the appearance of some deeper color within. The origin had to be mystical, and it amused Elowyn to imagine how much an analytical Quant like himself dabbled in what could be considered "occult;" she wasn't one to complain, knowing the results such things yielded.

Richard's arm rose from a stationary position solely with the help of Elowyn's hand. Slender fingers began stroking his cheek, teasing and warming his wanting skin. The trail of affection crossed his throat, shoulder blade, along his thin, strong arms, all the way to his wrist, raising his hand like a puppeteer, ensuring one of his fingers had the silver ring of the chain wrapped around it. Along the trail, she felt a growing heat or energy that she didn't expect to feel, especially in how prevalent it was within his hand. But as the pendant slowly hung between their faces, emitting a stronger version of the same energy, it suddenly made sense.

"A magical boost to your already-imbued pendant; very clever. No wonder it's so infamous," The robed brunette praised the technique, noting the smallest arc of a swing she'd ever witnessed in an object. A closed distance would've been required to notice eyes softly darted to the topaz pendant's arc, his hand, and Richard's soft expression. Tremors rippling of escape or ecstasy, a breeze within the decadent dungeon, or just her own imagination, Elowyn began theorizing what caused the swinging, not yet ready to conclude his own will was behind it. Compartmentalized safeguards meant he was keeping the remainder of himself hidden, as her constant influence still slowly eroded what kept their true essences apart.

"I wonder if this perhaps is just second-nature to you, or to the pendant itself; I wouldn't at all be surprised if your little toys had minds of their own. Or on a less ironic front, maybe your pendant would just contain an instinct, a reflection of surrounding wills; if someone stood in-front of it, it could act on it's own perceived indecorum, drawing a new, tired mind in, giving it sanctuary, in-exchange for service," she cooed at the near-naked Quant, letting her free hand drift to his untouched cheek. It stayed there to produce a further connection between Elowyn's touch, her voice, and the coercive nature of her presence. 

Inside his mind, her presence flooded up to the barrier protecting his remaining autonomy. Her caress against that barrier was light, but reverberating enough that inner-Richard felt it on his end. The erosion and conditioning made the compartmentalized structure begin to shift; a sealed wall meant to keep things out started to shift to that of a door. Vector felt the change, and the intention of the force; Elowyn wasn't at all planning on kicking the door down, patience dictated all she had to do was wait long enough, and he would willingly open it, inviting her in to the rest of her owned property.

"Service for sanctuary, such a fair, even trade. Holy members of society know of no better barter than that, dedicating whole souls and selves to that agreement, knowing their service will be heavenly, eternally rewarded. For the restless, such paradise can't be comprehended, but what is there to comprehend when rest finally comes upon you. Of course you know it is inevitable, the rest you feel, the sanctuary ready for your occupancy, the service you look forward to giving that earns bliss. Before you know it, simply serving is bliss enough, not just the gateway to paradise, but deep in the confines of it already. Serving is bliss, is blissful service."

Slipping fingers in-between his seemingly apathetic ones, she felt the subtle control he had over the pendant's movement, fascinated by how minuscule the movements were, how much attention had to be paid to those fingers, while peripheral attention was unknowingly still locked on the pendant itself. Elowyn couldn't tell that how locked onto the pendant she was, how her elegant induction ran nearly on autopilot, meaning she was just as much a passenger. Richard focused in on the the way their hands felt joined together, melding the physical and symbolic gesture into a materialized agreement in his head. Small parts of the two hypnotists joined the same way, reaching towards the influence he'd left in Elowyn through Ella, gently gripping and stroking it to make the Parnassus woman aware of it.

"Thank you, Mistress," Richard spoke in multiple forms, physically in the brainwashing dungeon, and within the conjoined minds. "Thank you for letting me serve, for letting me in...within you is heaven...within you is liberation...let me...let us feel pleasure in liberation."

An errant part of Elowyn acknowledged his strange agreement with her words, feeling the success and gratitude begin to wash over her. Efforts bearing fruit made her naked body tingle, wanting it's own reward; she greatly felt that around her torso, feeling or dreaming of touches signaling his need that overrode everything else. Slipping past an essence more idle than insistent all of a sudden, Vector let a free, skilled hand come alive, slowly undoing the sash of her robe, reaching inside to stimulate the way he'd done with dozens of women, dozens of times with Ella, and perhaps dozens more to come with Elowyn. Pawing her naked breast, sliding fingers under and between the cleft, gently flicking at the hardening nipple with this thumb, the free hand asserted all needed control while a softened, smiling face concentrated on hers and the pendant still between them. 

"Yes, Mistress, liberation feels wonderful...letting me in to....let go...feels like heaven, like the paradise you can nev-"

Submissive-sounding whispers faltered as he felt a hand covering his, feeling Elowyn's reaching down to cover his philandering hand with her own, guiding him to how and where she instinctively wanted to be touched. Ready to go along with it, a deep breath signaled adaptive change, until it caught in Richard's throat as he glanced down, suddenly fixated on Elowyn's exposed cleavage, growing hotter from past programming meant to make her the epitome of seduction, his Venus. 

"Sanctuary..." she uttered breathlessly.

"Service..." he retorted.

"Serve me..." she groaned, she managed to bring their caressing hands down to his lap, making him feel how hard he was, stroking his engorged head without instruction.

"Let me i-" he stopped again, as he looked up back to the pendant, feeling it's draw more powerful than ever, almost blinding in a strange way, feeling...feeling Elowyn pour her own magic into their intertwined hands, into the topaz container that drew their eyes until their foreheads nearly collided.

A distant sound struck at Elowyn, annoying the hypnotic socialite as she used all her will to bring herself back to full awareness. Physically rising, she stepped back, finding her robe undone, her breasts tingling, and Richard's erection close to breaking the elasticity of his underwear. The classy woman cursed, knowing that alarming sound was set to remind her of needing to be ready for the party. She'd felt herself so close achieving something amazing, to taking Richard finally deep enough, unaware of the equal danger she nearly succumbed to. Looking at the wall clock nearby, she knew she didn't have any time to properly finish herself off to any satisfaction. Small comfort came from knowing he would not finish either without her say so. In a bitter tone, she commanded a nearby slave to put him back in the enclosure for more brainwashing while she stomped away, getting as much frustration out as she could before having to appear calm and unbothered outside of the dungeon.

Vector only came back to himself sometime later in the chamber, still muttering the protective mantra. He smiled to himself how his safeguarding himself was automatic in the chamber, and had not gotten Elowyn an inch closer in dominating him, while he had to have made significant headway in turn. The smile morphed into a smirk as he remembered which of her buttons to push, with her body as much as her brain. He's seduced women of her age and stature before, knowing they were in loveless arrangements, looking for a younger, experienced steed to remind them of fervent womanhood again. Even if all the past socialites, all the past lovers, even Ella, still trailed behind Elowyn for him, she might receive a taste of her own medicine, and find that nothing tasted better.

The Quant's lips stayed smiling for the longest time as the mantra continued.

"A calm mind is controlled, is freed, is mine."

"A calm mind is controlled, is freed, is mine."

"A calm mind is controlled, is freed, is mine."