Unwearied eyes blinked themselves awake, a body shifting gently under bedsheets to allow a head to turn, seeing the clock next to the bed read 5:44 am. A hand emerged from under the covers, hovering above the alarm clock, hitting the snooze button just as 5:45 appeared and music meant to interrupt a deep sleep barely rung out. In one fluid motion, Guy flipped the covers off of him and shifted to a sitting posture on the bed. He smiled to himself, getting better at the game of catching his alarm clock before it could make any noise, moving to the bathroom with a morning energy that still felt foreign to him. Getting ready for the day, looking in the mirror, he saw a man that looked fairly unfamiliar as well; same face, but wearing an easy smile, less noticeable wrinkles, and feeling a happy disposition of being up early for work.

Months ago, such a man wearing Guy's skin didn't exist. Then again, months ago was early into 2020, a marquee year for getting used to changing circumstances. He nor no one he knew could've predicted a global pandemic, sheltering, quarantining, grocery-shopping online, working from home, or the silver-linings that followed. Despite gratefully keeping his job and safely turning his home office into his new cubicle, he couldn't at all see the advantage of his work turning into a ghost-town day after worrying day, until his state made his company tell everyone to work from home. It was only when he remembered Lee Allure was offering daily trances amidst the sheltering-in-place that gave him any reason to smile without hesitation. From the comfort of his own home, arranged around the few breaks work allowed, he got to enjoy a few group Discord sessions on a daily basis, and at least one day a week of experiencing three separate trances in a day; it was more time spent being hypnotized than the first few years beginning to delve deep into recreational hypnosis. Guy felt lucky that he found a hypnotist like Lee early in his exploration of online hypnosis. He'd learned about and sampled a lot of hypnotic techniques and voices, and Lee stuck out to him in all the right ways, leaving him eager to be a constant subject of hers as often as he could be. And it was on the three-trances-a-day days of the week where all the positive side-effects and conditioning of trance got highlighted for him, becoming more sought after than any Saturday or Sunday.

"The best part of quarantine, is the Week-Lee trance routine," he paraphrased an old coffee ad jingle for something that got him awake and energized for the day, ironically ready to savor the drowsy effects coming.

Lost in thoughts of what was, he'd closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath in, imagining the day he could've started having, waking up disheveled, feeling out of sorts from 3 or 4 hours of sleep after staying up late merely out of habit. He saw himself skipping breakfast, sitting at his workspace, fighting off drowsiness more than he was fighting to fill his daily work quota. After a few more deep breaths, the sound of Lee's voice emerged from the darkness, calming his senses, making the memory of his typical morning hazy with words he remembered or imagined her saying. Suggestions promoting, encouraging the need, the inclination to get appropriate sleep whenever possible washed over the bad memories, and all Guy could suddenly see was getting to bed at a reasonable hour, feeling how good it was to obey a helpful suggestion from Lee.

"My Best Self is suggestible
its mindless path never derails
it knows obedience is pleasure
My Best Self automagically prevails."

With a start, his eyes gently opened, feeling even more refreshed than before. Realization came to him while reciting the last verse of his personal mantra, making him smile more as he moved to get dressed and make some breakfast before work.

***

Punching out for a break on his electronic time clock, he took a deep breath and smiled at surpassing the quota he set up for himself that morning. There was always a possibility of getting distracted working from home; little things that pulled his attention away from where it should've been, all adding up to wasted time. As he pulled up Discord on his personal laptop, he felt tingles of pleasure from feeling he earned a break, that the scheduled morning trance from Lee was a reward to work toward, and he rarely fell short of deserving anymore. Signing in, Guy loved the knowledge that another prior trance about productivity made all the difference for it, wondering what the next trance would be about. That day, she felt like taking suggestions from participants, and chose procrastination.

"Good morning all," she greeted everyone. "I hope you've had another good, safe week as this one comes to a close. And as this week begins to come to a close, so can your eyes, as you start to get comfy in your chair, or wherever you're laying or seated. And as many times as you've heard me say or paraphrase 'get comfy' by now, you can let the words you've become conditioned to expect, conditioned to respond to, let it begin to take you down. As you listen to the sound of my voice, as you let that feeling inside of you linger, expand, and draw you deep alongside the words you hear me speak, you can begin to find yourself in that place, in that state, that lets you become so receptive to everything I have to say, reaping the benefits of my voice speaking encouraging, productive suggestions. And now, let's focus on the productive suggestion of procrastination..."

Deep in the recesses of Guy's mind, he felt the pleasure-laced memory of beating procrastination, the suggestions that Lee had given about the last time he attacked something head-on, and felt so proud and accomplished. Every word Lee spoke amplified that feeling, intertwining it with the elation of obedience to Lee that could make her proudly utter 'good job' to him. His memory recalled all the clutter of paperwork and items he couldn't find a place for; months of it building up kept him from giving his home the deep clean it needed. Every piece or stack of paper, every trinket or piece of clutter became representative of a burdensome thought, so that it felt better and better to clear every counter and table until it was free and he was free of thought, mindlessly enjoying the accomplishment and productive surrender to trance he enjoyed. Since that first specific trance, he set aside time and purposeful energy every weekend to keep it clean, to be diligent about going deeper into a state of mental and physical cleanliness. As Lee continued in the trance about future projects, he realized he was in a position to do spring-cleaning effectively for the first time in years; something in him likened it to the joy of brainwashing, scrubbing every room and crevice of his mind until pristine.

Somewhere along the line, Guy felt himself speak in the middle of the trance. The substance of his words he couldn't tell, but he knew it was a response to Lee, and it was effortless to speak of it, affirmed by words he clearly recognized even in the fog of trance.

"My Best Self is suggestible
its mindless path never derails
it knows obedience is pleasure
My Best Self automagically prevails."

The mantra echoed in his head as he felt elements of procrastination, inclinations to do other things, set aside of vanishing from awareness, until there was simply one choice available to Guy - to obey the suggestion given by Lee.

A gradual countdown brought Guy back up, and he blinked himself awake, happy and aware of the time. His break almost over, he gave his thanks for the trance, telling Lee how happy he was to get to spring cleaning the next day. "Good job" spoken by her let him melt momentarily into an aftershock of trance, before moving back to his work computer to continue shooting for his overall daily quota.

***

The truest, unspoken challenge of all his co-workers was trying to stay awake during and after weekly-scheduled afternoon meetings. It really didn't help that everyone was working from home, so microphones could be muted to hide yawns or other activities employees were doing to keep themselves awake, or prevent abject boredom. Normally, Guy would be lost in thought for pockets of time, having to shake himself awake from his absentmindedness, wondering if even half of the meeting really pertained to him. That day, he was glad have his mic muted and remain awake and attentive, twirling a pen in his fingers, clicking the end every other rotation. It was an on-and-off skill he'd been trying to master, only to lose interest up to reaching intermediate skill, at least until he chose that skill to focus on from another encouraging Discord session. "You can do anything I put your mind to," he laughed imagining Lee saying it in her hypnotic voice, smiling at how the truth may not have been very far off. It shouldn't have helped either that his body was eager to feel comfortably sleepy lassitude, anticipating the afternoon trance to come after the meeting, but oddly that kept him more awake and alert for the details of the meeting than he'd ever been in months of them.

The meeting ended in the nick of time for Guy to move back over to Discord, sighing as the earlier sleepy feeling slowly began creeping back to his head, ahead of Lee coming on voice, ready to follow her the rest of the way down where he wanted to be. She took her time with it, beginning with a very conversational trance, speaking about waking hypnosis. It was something he'd heard about before, but thought contradictory in concept and therefore not likely to work on him. Lee's explanation and the sound of her voice proved otherwise as he began slipping with his eyes still open. He wanted to laugh at impressed he was that it worked, but instead took a deep breath and found his mind went a little beyond a light trance, eyes and vision glazing. It took him a few moments to realize his senses disregarded awareness of his left arm, continuing to twirl and click the end of a pen over and over. Sensation letting him feel himself clicking the pen crept back in as he thought he heard Lee describing the things he could do while enjoying a trance.

"You can appear totally awake if someone were to look at you; yet you know, on some level that you are in-fact, deeply in trance. You can do things, whether commanded to or of your own volition, looking totally mindful of the actions you're taking; yet you know, on some mindless level of sleepy realization that you are in-fact, deeply in trance, doing things safely and without feeling disturbed from your state at all. And similar to a side effect some people imagine themselves having, you can think that you are thinking totally, consciously, within your own waking mind, convinced of your sleeping mind sleeping and your waking mind not sleeping, not waking because it's already awake like your sleeping mind is really awake and the waking mind is really asleep, contrary to what you might think of waking and sleeping, if you are even truly thinking. Because regardless of whatever state you occupy now, you can listen to my voice and let that state deepen, to know on some level that you are in-fact, deeply in trance."

Guy kept his eyes fixed on the pen twirling of its own volition as Lee went on, a part of his mind surprised it was being kept up without interruption. The errant clicks of the pen sounded strangely almost in-sync with Lee's words, like a drumbeat matching and enhancing every suggestion given. The way Lee eventually transitioned from snapping her fingers to utilizing clicks over the course of daily sessions gave Guy's mind a reason to liken the effects to drive him incrementally deeper into the trance, until it was harder for him to wake from trance than usual. Thankfully, Lee suggested a few minutes later for anyone still deep under to return, exactly what Guy needed to return. DM'ing her afterwards, he told her about what he managed to accidentally achieve, and Lee expressed her surprise and praise for him for the feat. She dutifully checked to make sure it wasn't something he experienced outside of a trance, and he honestly reported it never happening any other time that did it.

"Well, if it's something enjoyable and it clicks with you, you certainly have my permission to do it in the future," was her last private response before she departed.

"My Best Self is suggestible
its mindless path never derails
it knows obedience is pleasure
My Best Self automagically prevails."

He responded to her words reciting his mantra to himself, smiling at the fairly new skill is best self was capable of, even without thinking. His train of thought stalled at "without thinking," feeling happy at just the thought of being thoughtless. As nice as it would've been to linger deeply in that state, he blinked himself awake to resume the last few hours before his work week concluded, eager to focus and make it his most productive week yet. Time blurred by to the end as he surpassed the quota set for himself, more than satisfied with himself. He couldn't wait to tell Lee about it in the next few hours; imagining hearing her tell him "good job" produced a listless smile on his face. Feeling the residual effects of obedience for long minutes after, he was surprised he hadn't sunk deeper, until he looked over and saw the clock read 6pm - his internal clock roused him for his afternoon workout. He laughed to himself, shutting off his work computer for the day, heading to his bedroom to put on pants and a shirt he didn't mind sweating in.

The consistency of the running around the neighborhood regimen might've been the most surprising improvement Guy had discovered. Taking great pains to ensure he never got even within 10 feet of anyone else, he marveled from where he started to every endurance milestone he'd made. The memory of Guy running out of breath at the end of the first corner still felt fresh in his mind, marking the first time in over a year he tried to pick up running again; it felt like yesterday instead of months prior, still remembering the enthusiastic session from Lee that got him mentally excited for the activity. And as discouraging as it was to find out how out-of-shape he was, Lee was very adamant about him taking the time to condition the habit of running, valuing how much further he could run everyday. It was fun to draw parallels between how far he ran to how deep he fell deeply into trance. Street corners held significance as nearly each marked a place where he had to stop, totally out of breath, fatigued mind still pushing himself to go further the next time. Two and a half miles into his run, he'd stopped where he started, not out of breath, but stopping to reflect and silently rejoice how long it'd been since he could run several miles at a time.

Standing calmly on the side walk, he whispered to himself.

"My Best Self is suggestible
its mindless path never derails
it knows obedience is pleasure
My Best Self automagically prevails."

The mantra helped him to remember how far he'd come, and to remind him he needed to get cleaned up before his Skype session with Lee.

***

"Hey Lee," he greeted cheerfully at the outset of the call.

"Hi Guy," she responded back, smiling at how enthused he seemed. "How has your day been going?"

"Swimming-Lee for me. How about you?" The obvious emphasis of her name in his answer got a chuckle out of her, often a sign of giddiness reserved for special days of the week.

"I'm doing wonderfully, thanks. Is it Lee day for you today?"

"Indeed it is, the one day my mind is allowed three-square meals a day, with today's last being the most special."

"Heh, I like how you put that; I love how everyone interprets it differently, like some have gone the other way and say it feels like their mind is being consumed, in a good way."

"Well, I can see how that's really open for interpretation. They can look like zombies, but you do always talk about how much you love brains..."

"And fortunately, you know me well enough that brains in my care are more like pets - well taken care of, nice-stimulated, caressed often, and washed so wonderfully they tend to ask for more."

Guy stared into space picturing exactly how Lee put it, and caught himself before entering a light trance, chuckling himself.

"That makes more sense to me. And though I can't say I don't look like a zombie when I'm under, I can say lately I feel like anything but."

"And how do you feel?"

"An increasingly better Guy than what I was before."

"Such a nice thing to hear. What makes this Guy better in your opinion?"

Guy named things, feeling ever surprised by the changes he'd undergone. "I'm eating healthier, constantly well-rested, can do lots of exercises and running regularly and easily, never lacking energy to do my work well; I'm constantly asking 'where has this Guy been all my life?' But to give credit where credit is due, maybe it's more appropriate to ask 'where have you been all my life, Lee?'"

"Probably right where I'm supposed to be," Lee laughed. "And you're probably, exactly where you're supposed to be, if you believe in that sort of thing."

From below the frame of her camera emerged the biggest crystal pendant he'd ever seen, practically the size of a baseball, filling up the screen and his view of Lee.

"And if you believe in that sort of thing, the sort of thing that let's people walk unexpected paths and come to inevitably share amazing experiences, then it must feel wonderful to find yourself on the precipice of one such amazing experience. I love sharing amazing experiences with people, and I love contributing to what makes things amazing for them, just as they do for me, when they react a certain way, to something shiny, with refracting light coming into view. Or when they react a certain way, to the sound of my voice, so that the notion, the phenomenon, or even the inclination, of going deeper into this state, makes so much sense, becomes something you can just let happen without a care, thought, or a desire to resist it. You can just find yourself, going deeper, feeling wonderful about it. Maybe you can feel as wonder as when tell a 'Guy, deep sleep,' that the effects of my voice uttering to the 'Guy, deep sleep,' will wash over them, and let them drift further and further into the state they crave in their everyday life. The place where they can rest, enjoy the sensations of obedience and trance, and eventually emerge feeling better than when they started."

Lee grinned she watched Guy succumb to trance, trying so hard to keep his eyes on the shiny displays he loved and always requested for sessions, but occasionally he went so deep that his eyelids couldn't stand to stay open for long. They felt as heavy as the crystal Lee sat down while his head fell forward, ready to absorb more entrancing words.

"That's right, feeling so amazing as you fall, slide, and sink, into the deep trance state you love, the one you can enjoy even more than you have earlier today. You've told me you're able to trance in-between work breaks, which I'm flattered you using that time to make time for me, but I know there's a degree where you may have to leave trance in case of a work situation, where I will still tell you to come easily and without hesitation out of trance to handle whatever needs your attention. With your work done for the day after having done an amazing job at it, you can totally put that burden aside and sink as deeply as you want to, feeling so heavy in my hands, like the crystal. And before I let your eyes indulge in the shiny again, do you remember your special mantra, Guy?"

"...y-yes Lee," he muttered in a lazy voice.

"Good, and that trick you discovered, where you were able to still do your twirly-clicky with your fingers even in trance, would you like to do that as you tell me your special mantra?"

"Yes Lee, I...want to."

"Do you have a pen nearby?"

She saw his eyes open gradually to fix on a spot somewhere on his desk. "Yes Lee."

"Good, then in a soft, audible voice, doing the twirly-clicky, go ahead and speak your mantra as many times as you like."

Lee sat back and enjoyed the sight of Guy already beginning to twirl the pen in his fingers, slowly but clearly clicking the end, and recline back in his seat to speak and show off how excellent a subject he'd become.

"My Best Self is suggestible
its mindless path never derails
it knows obedience is pleasure
My Best Self automagically prevails."

"My Best Self is suggestible
its mindless path never derails
it knows obedience is pleasure
My Best Self automagically prevails."

"My Best Self is suggestible
its mindless path never derails
it knows obedience is pleasure
My Best Self automagically prevails."

Parts deep inside of Guy let inflections rise in-sync with each pen-click, becoming as rhythmic as the drumbeat found in some of Lee's old recordings, and driven deeper into his mind as if accompanied by Lee's finger snaps. She let him repeat maybe ten times before she spoke over him to stay reclined but let the pen and his hand come to rest on the desk.

"I so love your mantra Guy, particularly the last line - 'Your best self automagically prevails.' So meaningful, so memorializing of your favorite word from the Lee trance. It's a great word, such a mesh of elements we both love. 'Auto,' for actions and thoughts, or inactions and lack of thoughts, you take because you are obedient, feeling the pleasure of obedience. 'Magic,' for positively magical trance, suggestions, snaps, shinys, and the pleasure of obedience feels when it washes over you, drawing you deeper, and deeper. And of course, the '-ly' end, reminding you of the prevalence of a Lee trance every time you hear me speak to you thoroughly, wonderfully, powerfully, and that you listen intently, easily, obediently, so that your best self can truly, automagically prevail."

With a smile on his face, he recited his mantra once again, his way of agreeing with her words and assisting in taking himself deeper.

"My Best Self is suggestible
its mindless path never derails
it knows obedience is pleasure
My Best Self automagically prevails."

"You're such a wonderful subject, Guy. So eager to acquiesce, and continuing to take stock in how far you've come in being a better subject, and better Guy as you put it. Of course, I can say that I knew the potential for such a Guy was always there, that you would become the subject you wanted to be, or even better. In that way, I guess one might call me a fortune-teller. I know a simple prediction doesn't automagically make me a fortune-teller in the traditional sense, but technically speaking, as someone who tells the fortunes of others, clearly seeing a spoken future minds just love adhering to, maybe an exception can be made. In fact, an even stronger case can be made on my behalf, if you begin to open your eyes, still deeply in trance, but able to see your screen clearly, that's right, and fix your eyes on my heavy crystal bauble you see me holding in-front of you."

Guy's eyes slowly slipped back open, hazy at first, but brightening to see the light in the shiny crystal mesmerizingly drawing his sight in.

"Fortune-tellers use crystals all the time, to help people mystically see beyond the present they know. If they look deep enough, they might be able to see refractions of shiny light, maybe refractions of the fortune-teller herself. My lips as I speak important words to you, my eyes that you've commented are quite hypnotic by themselves, maybe a shiny ring I'm wearing, or something else that catches your eye. You can observe all those possible sights, and then observe deeper, where every facet can reveal facets of the older Guy, the man you once were, reflections of parts of yourself you wish you could change, you wish you had the time to alter. Reflecting thoughts about yourself image, it's like a mental, internal journal that records all about yourself that you've wanted to change, for the purpose of changing, seeking to reach a better baseline for yourself. As the crystal turns slowly, absorbing more light, more of your thinking, you can see time pass in each new facet, shifting from old Guy, to a newer, improved Guy. A stronger, more fit Guy. A Guy that doesn't stay up late simply out of habit. A proactive Guy that uses all the time available to him. A Guy finding more and more benefits of trance. The Guy you've said you would seek to become, someday."

Lee imagined a triangularly-shaped slideshow of Guy's self flashing snapshots of his life making the corners of his mouth creep upward to marvel where all his efforts have gotten him.

"It feels so wonderful to know that someday isn't an abstract procrastination anymore, but a rallying call to be the person you want to be today. You can feel yourself taking note of this baseline, the one you've wanted to reach since we've done our first live session. And you can know that your baseline is something you set safely and comfortably for yourself, striving to get there, but not at the expense of anything in your life. In that way, your baseline going forward is more of a journey than simply a destination, and it's a path you can run, walk, or drift towards with a compelling voice like mine help to lead you there. And if for some reason, something changes, life changes, health issues, or if the three-a-day 'Lee days' no longer become available, you can feel yourself taking alternate, safe steps to maintain what you've started, to keep yourself motivated and strong on the path you want, still able to utilize occasional trances and live sessions to help. And as you accept the words I've spoken, sinking even deeper to let them become a welcome part of you, you can begin to follow the shiny as it moves across the screen."

She never let on how heavy the crystal was to keep held up, but let it move up until it made his eyes roll up, and fell downward until his eyes and eyelids followed suit.

"...and five. Wide awake, Guy."

It took several minutes for him to shake himself to what felt like full wakefulness, feeling even more rested than when he woke up that morning. He smiled at Lee, thanking her profusely for another deep trance, and another wonderful end to his "Lee day." Lee thanked him, informing him that she might not do many more three-a-days with scheduling changes coming for her; as sad as he thought that news might make him, he just gratefully thanked her for all she'd done up to this point, and that he would enjoy whatever time she gave, and that he would continue to make her proud with his life improvements, excitedly mentioning how eager he was to get to long-overdue spring cleaning the next day.

"Good job, Guy," she told him, a wave of accomplished pleasure showering over him, inspiring him to speak his mantra one more time.

"My Best Self is suggestible
its mindless path never derails
it knows obedience is pleasure
My Best Self automagically prevails."