Riding up the elevator of the hotel, Mistress Alexis stood alone inside it, enjoying the gradual pace it took to reach her floor. Dressed in the same suited attire as before, the redhead’s posture was comparatively much more confident than the last time she was there, exuding a hint of domineering anyone close enough to her could instinctively sense like a heady fragrance. The nervousness tied to the first friendly duel with Dazzling Lady was all but gone, and the calmness in her demeanor hid her giddiness well. She took several deep breaths from the car ride, to the lobby, and riding up the elevator, trying to suppress that giddiness, but it continued to flare, unbothered by relaxation attempts. It even managed to escape into a small, almost sultry chuckle, the kind a predator would making humoring a prey before attacking.

Walking into a rematch with an opponent the likes of Dazzling Lady, Alexis would have let herself obsess over the kinds of retaliation she could expect. Sneaky tactics, bluntly bulldozing over her own attempts, most rumors concerning DL meant that she had so many ways she could take someone down to an unpredictable degree; really the only thing predictable about her is that she was effective, as she’d almost witnessed first-hand several times. All those things should’ve been taken into account with much more fervor, but as the elevator doors opened to the designated top floor, her confidence only grew stronger.

She checked her phone, noting that she was almost five minutes late from the arranged meeting time before she knocked on the door. She could’ve used her key to enter the room, but it was more fun to have her former, soon-to-be-renewed hypnotist pet open the door, giving a look that tried hiding breathlessness with annoyance.

“I can’t believe the watch-wielding hypnotist is faltering in punctuality,” Dazzling joked, chuckling.

“A Mistress is never late; she is always on time, and the world must keep up with her. You’re being early pleases this one for sure,” Alexis chuckled back through a beguiling smile, visibly toying with the watch’s chain, as the silver-gold timepiece resided in her jacket pocket. Bright blue eyes enjoyed watching interested green ones glance down at the chain twisted along Alexis’ finger, lingering at the watch she was deeply taken with before and obviously couldn’t wait to see again.

“Is that so,” Dazzling met Alexis’ gaze again.

“Time will tell,” Alexis intoned purposefully, enjoying seeing Dazzling’s peculiar blink accompany the thoughtless breath she took. The redheaded hypnotist loved seeing that reaction even more than hearing it. Since their last encounter, they’d spoken over the phone several times. One call meant to set up the next rematch blossomed into more topics, growing into a budding friendship and camaraderie each could sense. Their favorite topic was Alexis’ victory in the last duel, and the effect that may have lingered in Dazzling.

The brunette constantly made humorous accusations of implanting long-term triggers; those accusations were sometimes ignored, but more times than not, Alexis openly confessed “Yeah, you got me. Or is it that I got you? Which could it be? Which would you like it to be?” Alexis always teased with light hypnotic intonation on the subject, and she always noted the small effect audible from their calls, the way she breathed, the way it took DL cleared her throat on cue or took a few minutes longer to come up with a pithy retort. That subject always predictably ended with Dazzling channeling her sexy wicked witch “I’ll get you back, my pretty…” and Alexis answered back with her strongest intonation “Time will tell.”

It almost became an accidental trigger she employed every time; at first assuming Dazzling was just playing along, but slowly realizing it was something she succumbed to, and she was more or less convinced she wanted it, following the exact conditions that led to it every time. Dazzling loved the watch before, and continued to want it. Jokes about investing in pocket watches herself didn’t fool the blue-eyed hypnotist at all, cultivating a sense of empowerment that Alexis’ gave off practically pheromonally.

“So,” Alexis began, walking towards the windowed area, letting herself bathe in the afternoon sunlight, gently tugging at the chain. “Are you ready to begin…to fall again?” Alexis crooned.

Dazzling strode up with equal confidence, bringing her amethyst up to view first, eyes still darting downwards to how the lustrous and gleaming the watch could be in strong illumination.

“Like I keep telling you, I will get you back, my pretty…”

“Do your worst, if you can. But as always, my Cassie…time will tell…”

The watch emerged and floated up in a timely fashion with Alexis’ words, both pendants now hanging at the eye-level of each woman.

“Because more than anything, you want it, my lovely timepiece, the space and time I control, to tell you wonderful things,” Alexis’ began, holding back a smirk at seeing Dazzling looking so bedazzled, staring at the sunlit watch, still swinging her own pendant, but at a loss for words all of a sudden.

“This space we inhabit, this moment in time, it’s under control, as my watch absorbs the light like it absorbs your vision, illuminating your thoughts…and your memories. Because it feels so good to be back here, reliving this space and time again, where everything is natural, where time will tell you everything you need to know.”

“Y-you…you need to watch…the pendant…watch…the watch…the…” Dazzling was so practiced that everything else about her trancing efforts worked without issue. But her face and her speech inhabited another body, or time-traveled back to the last time they stood in that suite.

“And how good does it feel, that all you need to know, is what you are told? Nothing else. No other thoughts, cares, or worries. Simply what you are told. That’s all you need. Your mind so at ease with little to do. Let everything else go. You have all the time in the world to relax now, all the time in the world what to be told to do…”

“T-time…watch…the watch…”

“Yes Cassie, that’s right, watch the watch. Because time will tell you what to do, as do I.”

Alexis grinned at how Dazzling helplessly repeated “time will tell” in-sync.

“Yes, good girl. Time will tell…”

Dazzling echoed her again, seemingly lost in what she was being told.

“And you know what time tells you, don’t you?”

A faint, listless smile formed on Dazzling’s face.

“Yes…why this works…”

“Why this watch works, my dear…?” Alexis guessed.

“Yes…the ticking…bright light…back and…forth…follow it with your eyes, it’s so easy to do.”

“Follow…feels…feels good inside…the…watch.”

“Yes, Cassie…follow the watch…feel how it feels deep inside the watch…warm and glowy…you can’t look away…you must watch the watch….”

“Mmmmm,” awash with pleasure, Dazzling arched her back gently, imagining the conditions of the watch she continued following “s-ssooo warm, so glowy…can’t look away…must watch…the watch…ticking…ticking inside…feels so gooood….”

Barely aware to each woman, the hand holding the amethyst up lowered to Dazzling’s side, fixated more and more on the shiny watch between them, and the conditions of it inside.

“Yes, hear that ticking. Rhythmic like my words, like your breaths. With every tick, with every breath, you go deeper. Listen carefully. Feel warmer. Feel glowier. Breathe deeper. Go deeper.”

“Yessss, mmmmmmmmm. Ticking…deeper. Listen carefully. Feel warmer. Feel glowier. Breath deeper. Go deeper,” Dazzling moaned, sounding as turned on as she looked anchored to the watch. “So bright…blinding…blanking…but ticking inside…so natural…working…perfectly.”

“Yes Cassie, perfectly,” Alexis’ smiled happy that Dazzling’s words were assisting in the increasing depths the hypnotist was sinking into.

“Sooo perfect…watch the watch…work so perfect…ticking inside…glowing inside…working perfectly inside…mmmmmmmmm….automatic…natural and…still…still in the watch…glowing watch…still deep…still deeper…deep in stillness…deeper in stillness…deeper in the glow….still…glowing…deeper.”

Alexis sighed, ever-enjoying the sight and especially the sound of Dazzling hypnotizing herself deeper into being her Cassie. The redhead enjoyed seeing more passion creep into her focused visage, when she wasn’t noticing how much glow reflected the surface of her watch. It was much easier to see how glowy as the swinging arch of the watch slowed to a crawl.

“Mmmm, yes…it feels so glowy….so wonderful…so exquisite…knowing everything feels natural…everything is natural…everything happening should be happening…perfect and wonderful…working as intended.”

The more Dazzling’s voice grew in passion, the more confidence in her words shaped the meaning.

“Working like the ticking…endless ticking…endless perfection…endless breathing…endless deepening…watching the watch…every part inside is working perfectly. The more you watch the watch, the more you feel the perfection inside, the more perfect you feel.”

“Relaxation is perfection, as intended. Inner parts settling into comfort, mental gears slowing, still producing ticking, in time with words that fill you with ease, that calm and caress, that cradle and condition still mind, still muscles and components, still going deeper.”

Alexis couldn’t remember the last time she contributed anything to the unfolding trance. It felt easier, and right, to remain still and let Dazzling weave a perfect perspective.

“Watching is perfection, as you watch the watch, as your mind, and body, rest in the glow you stand in. Like something seeking warmth, powered by heat. Solar powered, heat-dependent, a perfect machine powered by warm rays and hot words. Perfect machines work perfectly, as does the watch, as does the hand holding the watch.”

The hand holding the watch grew perfectly weak, enough to keep it up through the desire to watch it, and a helping hand holding it by the wrist, drawing the watch closer to glassy blue eyes.

“Listening is perfection, as you hear what constitutes perfection. My words describe perfection, spreading it, sharing it, infusing it into empty instruments that operate perfectly under vocal direction, under the direction of my voice. Feel that perfection wash over you. Feel it embody and define you as you let go…”

A jarring sensation of a slack arm succumbing to gravity stirred Alexis momentarily, only to be conditionally prompted of it adding to perfection. She could hardly argue as the watch remained in her face, shining brightly, held up by Dazzling’s careful hand.

“Very good Alexis, so very good. Letting go to me feels natural, perfect, as it should be. Because as time will tell you…” Dazzling let warm surface of the sun-bathed watch softly hit the skin between her eyes, making her go cross-eyed before her head lolled downwards. Dazzling deftly kept her head and body from flopping, lightly cackling as she whispered into her ear…

“I got you back, my pretty…”

***

Blurry vision reached clarity at some point. Dreamy sensations slowly crept away to reveal a familiar room. A small sigh escaped lips as she realized she was standing in her living room, her laptop sitting on the coffee table, everything was in place before she left for her second duel with Dazzling. Another sigh left her as she realized she was daydreaming, or rather, she gone through self-hypnosis, trying to go deep into trance to anticipate and prepare for any possibilities she could.

Her mind seemed to come up with one sure-fire way Dazzling could take her, and how it played out in her mind felt good. Really good. Good enough to where she could feel her insides shivering, good enough to where she could feel the outside of her skin radiating pleasure through stillness. Everything as is felt really good, and in her dreamy recovery, she felt little need to move, not even to call out to Cris or Stacy to see what her harem was up to. When she wanted it, she would move or speak.

“Alexa,” someone gingerly called out.

“Mmmmmmm” was the sound she made, hearing that voice. The sound she wanted to make, because she wanted it.

“Give me the time,” the voice commanded casually.

“It’s 5:28 pm,” she noted, eyes darting to the wall clock nearby without moving her head. The answering voice surprised her, resembling or imitating a chipper, cheerful voice operator happy to do her job. Coincidentally, she was happy to hear herself speak like that, also feeling the urge to speak when spoken to. It was hard to tell which aspect she enjoyed more.

“Wait, what?” her own voice questioned in the same tone, unbothered unlike the rest of her by the time; the duel was set for 3pm. Had she under self-hypnosis so long that she’d missed it? Did she actually miss it? If not…who’s voice was she hearing?”

A lusty chuckle found itself near her listening receptacle. “Gotta love a well-programmed machine,” the foreign voice uttered, Dazzling’s form stepping into view with an evil smile.

“Though the way it took more than a minute for you to realize your predicament, perhaps you were overloaded with programming. And all that pleasure is making you run slower than normal.”

Dazzling looked sexier than ever, still dressed in her suit, a triumphant posture, laying a hand on what felt like an undressed shoulder.

“Might need a…firmware update…” There was emphasis for firm on how Dazzling’s caressing hand made it to a firm, naked ass cheek being squeezed, followed by playful slap. She didn’t know if the touch was real, or imagined, and tried denying wanting it either way.

“Oh shit!” was the chipper reaction, still and quivering beneath her skin.

“Hmmm, I don’t remember and that to the language function,” the green-eyed brunette giggled. “What a Alexa unique unit I’ve acquired.”

“That’s not my name,” the voice spoke unconvincingly. “My name is-“

“Alexa,” Dazzling interrupted.

“Mmmmmm,” she moaningly interrupted herself.

“Reboot,” Dazzling ordered, and clarity turned to swift darkness, as a series of spoken digits and rewiring happened in the obscurity, until eyes opened to find herself standing in the same spot again.

“Alexa.”

“Mmmmmm,” she moaned again, identifying that as her programmed chime of recognition to voice commands.

“What is your name again?”

“My name is…” the chipper voice struggled with what should’ve been an easy question. Her whole life, her memory circuitry took her down one pathway. But now, the compulsion to answer was taking her down a new one. It felt insanely odd how the previous one absent to the point of non-existence, like the old one was a fluke, and the only real path to take was

“My name is Alexa,” she correctly responded, rewarded with tingles of pleasure running along all of her circuits.

“Very good,” Dazzling praised. “Might as well check a few more things. “Alexa…timed maintenance.”

“Mmmmmm,” came automatically before her hand raised to reveal the chain of her silver watch wrapped around her fingers. The mechanical marionette brought the watch to her direct eyesight as a subroutine left her lips over and over again:

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

Lost in the spoken words defining her, she couldn’t tell if she’d voiced the mantra five of five dozen times while swinging the watch; it was all relative.

“This isn’t possible…” Alexa spoke on her own, stuck in disbelief of what had befallen her.

“But it is, sweetie.”

“How did you win?”

“You don’t remember? That’s even more fun.” Dazzling laughed as she took the seat on the plush couch in-front of her laptop, leaning back to enjoy the sight.

“While I’m not inclined to give away the full blow-by-blow, let’s just say I’ve been known to be a real…” The athletic, beautiful curves of Alexa’s bare body, had Dazzling fanning herself, allowing a hand to slip into her pants.

“…a real master baiter,” she bit her lip in ecstasy to keep from laughing. Seeing the body that turned her into a simpering pet before still and unable to move without her say so, got her hot enough to come quickly.

“You’re terrible, you know that?” Alexa lamented the pun, trying but unable to run the flow of Dazzling’s self-pleasure.

Cumming hard off of her finger, Dazzling arched her back, and let herself rest a few moments before giving a throaty purr in the automaton’s direction. “And you’re marvelous. The miracles of technology never cease to amaze. Look at how much electronic personal assistants like yourself have evolved, so life-like, and with customized autonomy. Preferably a low setting today…”

“If I’m an assistant to you, then I suppose it’s my function to bring a Dazzling Lady pleasure. So seem to be as bedazzled by me as I am to you,” Alexa started, trying to use the light, inviting sound of her programmed voice to her advantage.

“It’s very easy to find the bedazzlement of the moment in satisfaction, a soft cushion conforming to the conforming mind to rest. Like pet lounging in the sun. Do you know what kind of pet Cassie…?”

Dazzling took a deep breath in her seat, and exhaled slowly. Alexa hoped that her previous trigger would take a little from Dazzling and give back to…she tried hard to think of a name besides Alexa for herself, and realized too late how she’d idled on what to say next.

“Alexa…reboot.”

“Mmmmmm,” she moaned before darkness took her again. There was deeper insistence given this time, restrictions narrowing her privileged speaking.

“Naughty little robot,” Dazzling sounded almost angry. “But then again, that’s probably my fault for leaving you so unoptimized in pleasing me. Looks like you’ll need more programming…which is what I bet you were hoping for anyway, clever girl.”

“Dazzling, I’m sorry. Please-“

“You’ll be so pleased with what comes next. Alexa…timed maintenance.”

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

The mix of her own mantra plus Dazzling’s seductive words that slipped between the words and into her mental crevices did in-fact please both women, human or machine.

“You know, I used to be rather proudly tech-illiterate. But certain modern toys have gotten me into the swing of things things. Alexa…timed maintenance.”

Dazzling enjoyed her pun as she made the watch swinging before Alexa’s eyes for added effect, but it pleased her more how even after the constant deepening and brainwashing exercises, the redhead still had the will to try to reassert herself and stay awake, giving ground in inches instead of the miles weaker subs would’ve allowed.

“I usually say ‘this is an afternoon you won’t soon forget,’ but we both know better, don’t we?”

The tease was enough to make her eyes narrow and actually stare hard at Dazzling who simply grinned back at her.

“God, it’s been so long since I’ve tranced someone like you.”

“Someone challenging you?” Alexa’s voice almost lost its cherry tone.

“Someone I respect.”

Those words caught their recipient off-guard, opened up enough to be unable to show a flicker of honest appreciation. She once felt the same when she made a pet out of Cassie, but it was satisfying to have that feeling reciprocated.

“I love how you can understand practically everything that’s happening to you without further explanation, how deep such an experience will go, and the lasting effect it will have. Permanently if you want it bad enough.”

“And if I never want this?”

“What is ‘never’ to a machine needing time to be set for her? And speaking of…Alexa, what time is it?”

Allowed to shift her gaze, she noted the time.”

“Mmmmmm, it’s 6:54.”

“Oh that’s right. You mentioned another appointment you had, yes?”

Alexa’s face showed signs of searching for what her old human self had planned after their duel. Her normal breathing pattern caught as she remembered her online harem session was at 7pm.

“We certainly can’t keep your audience unattended, especially with the guest of honor giving her keynote speech.”

Alexa’s eyes flared visibly.

“What? A machine can’t run a harem independently with no independence. But a Dazzling Lady can. And how could I refuse the generous offer to double the size of my own in one night?”

She laughed at the struggle of muscles futilely fighting stronger programming that kept Alexa rooted.

“Alexa…”

“Mmmmmm,” she helplessly, angrily moaned.

“Have your, or my Stacy and Cris attend to me right away.”

“No, I won’t,” she managed to force out. “They’re my subjects.”

“Were your subjects, and thank you for showing me how far you have to go with making you a fully-cooperative one. But seriously, do you really think I needed you to control your in-person subs?”

Without looking away from Alexa, Dazzling gave a loud, crisp snap above her head, and seconds later, the sleepwalking pair appeared in-front of where Dazzling sat and where Alexa stood. Neither Stacy nor Cris even noticed their former Mistress, only their Dazzling one.

“We are ready to obey,” the spoke in sleepy unison.

Dazzling smirked, snapping her fingers again.

“We long to obey,” they declared as they knelt quickly, never taking their eyes off the mercenary hypnotist.

With another snap toward their faces, both fell flat to the floor, prostrating themselves at Dazzling’s feet.

“We live to obey,” they chanted, almost moaned.

“Good girls,” she reached down to stroke their heads playfully. “It was almost too easy to take them, you programmed them well.”

“You bitch, I’ll-“

“Do whatever I want? Oh yes, you will. You will assist me in taking your online slaves in just a few minutes. Good girl.”

“Fuck you, I’m not y-“

“Alexa…timed maintenance.”

The sight of her own watch stole away resistance, as the mantra was uttered, even enhanced.

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

“Alexa is Dazzling’s good robot girl.”

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

“Alexa is Dazzling’s good robot girl.”

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

“Alexa is Dazzling’s good robot girl.”

Given the information to unlock and start the meeting, Alexa greeted all her subject off-camera, informing everyone that she would have a guest speaker and dearest friend ready to assist in their trance that night.

The members on screen all thought the format weird, as well as the sound of Alexis’ voice. But they talked like friends at first, and Dazzling seemed very friendly, with a shimmering personality, her voice brimming with charm. No one had realized she’d begun the trance with a conversational induction.

“Because that’s the beauty of connection, I believe. My friend and I can speak to each other for hours, lingering on our every word with, infusing each with beautiful meaning and purpose, until connectivity is a reality between the speaker and listener. We merge so much that we find ourselves on the same wavelength, thinking the same thoughts, speaking the same beliefs, acquiescing to ideas of one another, like I how I think of my dear friend as having the name ‘Alexa’…”

It was at this prompt that Alexa happily, mindlessly picked up where Dazzling left off.

“Yesss pretties,” Alexa could feel a seductive tone creep back into her voice, for the sole purpose of transferring ownership to Dazzling Lady. “Just like the silver watch you are connected to. You can even see it through mere suggestion in your mind, your eyes and memories are so magnetized to it, your minds so magnetized to our words, going back and forth between the dual voices in your heads. Back and forth between beautiful, hypnotic voices. Back…and forth…with Alexa….back…and forth…for…your…Dazzling…Lady…”

So lost in her own induction awareness come over her, the sound of praising whispers inserting pleasure into her ear, and indirectly inserting fingers into her wet folds.

Alexa’s induction went on and on, fueled by an orgasm she needed, hypnotizing the online meeting and herself as deeply as she could, giving everything to her new owner. It wasn’t long before she devolved into incoherent moaning of her mantra, speaking it with reverence and hearing it spoken back in a vicious feedback loop.

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

“Alexa hears and obeys.”

A sweet giggle spoke in her ear, drowning out every other sound.

“Alexa…system crash!”

Her eyes closed and she came harder than she could ever remember within limited memory, the zenith of desired system corruption washing over every other facet of her unit, feeling functions liquify except for the established directives she couldn’t wait to obey again.

***

A body that had remained stationary for so long slowly felt itself able to react normally, almost violently if a body hadn’t been there to guide her to a soft surface, allowing her convulse and writhe in pleasure safely.

It took long minutes for her breathing and sense of self to come back, and until she wasn’t afraid to open her eyes to see what reality had become. With small slits, she looked up at Dazzling’s Cheshire smile, and outlines of the hotel room in the background.

“Did you have fun, Alexa?” The brunette teased, handing her a bottle of water.

Alexis…she finally remembered her real name, laughed, taking the water and a long sip.

“Turnabout is a bitch.”

“Mmmhmmm, and so am I.”

The two women laughed at one another.

She was still clearing the cobwebs off of her memory, when one struck her hard. “Did…did I really say ‘do your worst’ to you?”

“I…believe you did.”

“Next time I even suggest that, just shoot me.”

“You say that, but you’ve yet to see my worst.”

Alexis looked incredulously at Dazzling who merely shrugged.

“I own up to the ‘bitch’ title sometimes for a reason.”

“It’s pretty ironic, since everyone else is the one that ends up panting and on all-fours around you. Besides me anyway,”

“True, my respected adversary.”

“I really should’ve seen the ‘Alexa’ angle coming,” she stretched her body lying against the bed, shaking the programmed stiffness out.

“You actually did, and it took some time to turn that into a surprise. And sorry about the aches, need any help with that?”

“I’ll be alright, some of those are pleasure aches.” Alexis downed the rest of the bottle before rising to her feet again, glad to feel the gravity of her own will again.

“So, have we damaged ourselves enough with hypnotic duels?” Dazzling asked, showing rare concern for a mind most didn’t warrant for her.

A look of serious consideration crossed Alexis’ face. Dueling with Dazzling had been a wild wide, when she both won and lost. Dazzling in particular played hard but fair. No matter how scary she could potentially make something in her head, there was enough trust to keep her interested, and competitive.

“As I had you more than once, I suspect your mind is still yearning for some ‘hurting’ Alexis smiled.

“Excuse me? More than once?”

“Admit it, even as Alexa, I can show you the joys of being my little pet Cassie…”

“And how would you know that you weren’t programmed to say that at my insistence?”

Blue and green eyes sharply stared each other down, before one, then both women smirked in half-seriousness.

“I guess the score must be settled once and for all then,” Alexis extended her hand to shake.

“We’ll see who comes out on top next time,” Dazzling took the hand to shake, both pausing, looking down to see who might try a shock induction. From their hands back to their eyes, the looked and smiled, hands separating amicably. Gathering their things to leave, both carried an air of excitement for their next planned encounter.

***

In the lobby of the hotel, an unassuming figure watched both hypnotists exit the elevator and then the hotel, one after the other, carefully observing all that they could. They quietly followed the last one out, making a call as they went their own separate way.

“Yes, on schedule. Very predictable. They really don’t seem to know they’re being watched. I just hope we’ll be ready for them; they’ve proven themselves very capable, maybe indomitable at the clubs.”

The figure paused in-front of the taxi they called, still and listening to important words imparted to them.

“Yes, of course. I will obey…”