Chapter 12

Zenith was not so much a bar as much as a strip club. No one was nude, but dancers in various states of undress writhed on stages and in cages hung above tables and a large, empty dance floor. The customers all wore suits, the same sharply tailored style all CaliaCorp employees seemed to share. Waiting staff walked about in tight leather, taking drinks to tables and checking on the patrons, who were mostly staring with glazed eyes at the dancers. A few were surreptitiously rubbing themselves under the tables, and not hiding it particularly well. The group entered feeling like interlopers. They were not in suits, nor dressed in anything like the dancers or other staff. If the other people in the bar noticed though, they certainly didn’t show it. No one batted an eyelid as Theo led the others through the winding maze of tables, to pulsing music thumping from loudspeakers in the corners.

They found the woman who met them outside CaliaCorp in a booth nestled in the back corner of the bar. It was dimly lit, but her green eyes seemed to shine out from the darkness, and the light caught her hair as she lifted her head and nodded. Theo nodded back and joined her, sitting down on the opposite side of the booth, with a table between them. Trish, Sam, and Marc squeezed in beside him. Four on one side, her on the other. She smiled.

“Thanks for coming. Before we get into anything, I need you to understand, this conversation never happened. You get me?”

The group nodded.

“Good. Now, you’re looking for someone, one of the missing?”

Theo leaned forward and whispered, “Ben. Ben Wheeler.”

“Another lost to CaliaCorp,” the woman said.

“What do you mean?” asked Trish.

“All those missing people,” the woman said, “they end up working for CaliaCorp.”

“But how, why?” said Sam.

The woman leaned closer. Theo snuck a glance at her cleavage as she did, the others found themselves captivated by her sparkling emerald eyes.

“They’re brainwashed.”

Sam and Marc looked at each other. Theo appeared to be getting a little more lost in the woman’s eyes than he expected.

“They’re what?” asked Trish.

“Brainwashed. Everyone is, to a degree.”

“What do you mean?” asked Trish.

“You see what’s on TV, on your phones, on those big screens. Everywhere, sexuality, erotica. It’s designed to grab your attention, weaken your mind, make you think of pleasure.”

As she spoke, the woman met Theo’s gaze, started speaking directly to him.

“And the more you see of it, the weaker you become. Slowly your mental defenses erode. It can take months, years, but eventually something will get you. Some image of your exact kink or the person of your dreams. That’s it, you’re prey from that point onward.”

When she said ‘prey’, she licked her lips. Theo mimicked her.

“So, everything on TV… it’s brainwashing us?” asked Sam.

The woman kept looking at Theo, holding his stare.

“Everything on TV, everything on social media, the porn you watch, the products you choose. Every fetish is catered for, every desire shown. Something out there will flick a switch in your mind and pleasure will become your priority.”

Theo’s mouth hung open. He was totally out of it. He couldn’t do anything but stare at the woman from CaliaCorp.

“That’s insane,” Marc said, “so like… all CaliaCorp stuff is doing this?”

The woman nodded. “Everything. All of it. The screens out on the buildings are doing it. You are being conditioned through life to be aroused, docile, and obedient.”

“This can’t be real,” said Sam.

“But it’s all right there, isn’t it?” said Trish. “Right in front of our noses. How CaliaCorp got so big, why everything seems to just move aside for them.”

“There’s nothing quite as motivating as arousal, as pleasure. As driving as that primal need for intimacy, connection, sex,” said the woman, still staring at a dazed Theo, “and whoever truly harnessed that was always going to change the world.”

“Calia,” Marc said.

The woman nodded. “Before this, sexuality was frowned upon, judged, fetishes were taboo. Now everyone embraces who they truly are.”

“And she took advantage of that,” Trish said, “used people’s desires to take control.”

“Something like that,” said the woman, “you can see just how powerful it is already.”

Theo stared at her, mouth agape. She reached a hand up and snapped her fingers.

“Hey,” she said sharply, “wake up sweetheart. Back to reality.”

Theo shook his head and slapped his lips together repeatedly, as if he’d been in the desert without water.

“What the hell?” he said.

The woman, finally, began to look at everyone in the group, her eyes drifting between each person in turn.

“What your friend just experienced was a light trance, brought on by his arousal. His natural instinct to look at me and focus on me when I started to use sexual language.”

“So… what does this have to do with Ben?” asked Sam.

“How do you think he ended up at CaliaCorp?” she replied. “He saw something that flicked the mental switch and did exactly what he was supposed to. Applied for a job. At that point, it’s already too late.”

“Too late… for what?” asked Trish.

“Too late to stop himself from becoming brainwashed.”

Theo ran his hands down his face and released a long breath.

“You’ve made your point. How are we going to save him?”

The woman, for a moment, showed a flash of frustration. “I don’t have all the answers. I can find your friend; I can maybe get you a chance to see him. Whether you can break the programming… that’s another story.”

“Why should we trust you?” asked Marc, “we don’t even know your name.”

“It’s Aisling. Does that help?”

“So, there’s nothing else we can do? Now we know all this, shouldn’t we try to stop it? All of it?” Sam said.

“You want to… what? Bring down CaliaCorp? The most successful, powerful company on the planet?” Aisling asked. “I wouldn’t recommend you try something like that. I’m only here to help you find your friend.”

“We can’t just hear all that and not do anything. The world is fucked, and I am not sitting back and accepting that a company can control our lives like this.” Trish snapped.

Aisling sighed. “You can try whatever you want. Just… you should know what you’re getting yourself into. Know what might happen.” She pointed to Theo. “Know how to avoid ending up like he did.”

“Hey,” Theo said, “you tricked me.”

Aisling looked at him and shook her head. “You think the people you’re going to encounter won’t? Do you have any idea of the kind of brainwashing, mind control, hypnosis techniques this company has developed over decades of research? You want to stand against that, you need to know how it works.”

Theo folded his arms. “Good, yeah, I won’t be taken advantage of again.”

“How do we stop it?” Sam said.

Aisling clasped her fingers together and leaned in, closer to Sam. “It’s complicated. Very complicated. But the crux of it is simple. Get you aroused, get your focus on something else, your lust, need, fetish, secret desire, unrequited love, and twist that to their ends. You love hot girls in stockings? Well guess what, you’ll be fed a video of that once the algorithms figure it out, and then once CaliaCorp has you hooked, the association between that fetish, and the company, is built. Soon you think of CaliaCorp when you think stockings. Once that happens, you might already be too late. And once you’re conditioned enough to want to go work at CaliaCorp, or at least be curious about it, they’ll send someone to interview you who’s the living embodiment of your desire. You’ll meet someone with perfect legs, wearing your favourite shade of stockings, who’ll tease you, arouse you, and use the interview to start your programming.”

As Aisling spoke, Theo’s eyes began to glaze over again. He had to shake his head to stay focused on what she said. Had he been paying attention, he may have noticed his friends all having similar reactions.

“And when they start programming you. Once that begins. Wherever, however it begins. It would take an astronomical level of willpower to escape it. This has taken politicians, CEOs, billionaires, and turned them into mindless pets for CaliaCorp.”

The group listened carefully, enraptured by Aisling. They sat in a daze for a few moments after she stopped talking. Trish shook off the reverie first.

“Why? What does Calia and her company get out of all this?”

Aisling shrugged. “Years ago, the world was on the brink of collapse. Now it’s not. Now we’re not burning holes in the atmosphere. Or melting the ice caps.”

“That’s worth controlling people? Brainwashing them?” Marc asked.

Aisling didn’t react. She reached into the inside pocket of her jacket, drawing everyone's eyes to her chest, and pulled out a card.

“Take this,” she said, pushing it across the table to Theo, “and contact me if you need help with whatever you do next.”

Theo picked up the card. It smelled of roses. He put it in his pocket.

“What if you need to reach us? If you find Ben?” asked Sam.

“Theo will send me his details, won’t you?”

Theo nodded.

“Good. Now, this conversation never happened, and we never met. You all understand that? If you want my help, I don’t exist.”

“Yes, ok,” said Trish.

“Thank you,” said Sam.

Aisling nodded and stood up. Her hair shone in the flashing lights from the dance floor as she walked out of the booth.

“Don’t leave for ten minutes,” she said, before sashaying away and out of the bar.

Theo stared as she walked away and let out a loud sigh when she moved out of sight. Marc eyed him suspiciously.

“She did a number on you buddy.”

Theo scowled. “She was showing us what happens if we don’t pay attention. She helped.”

“Sure, I bet the mysterious stranger is totally on the level,” Marc replied.

Theo glowered at him over folded arms. Marc glowered back.

“Guys, let’s just not, ok?” said Sam. “This is a lot to take in.”

“Is it?” said Sam. “Or did we all kind of know already?”

Trish looked at Sam with a raised eyebrow, then slowly lowered it.

“Do we trust her then?” said Marc.

Glances darted between friends. No one answered for a while, until Theo uncrossed his arms and planted his fist on the table.

“Doesn’t matter, does it? We know what’s happening now. Which means–”

“We have to do something about it,” Trish finished.

Theo nodded his approval.

“What… What are you two thinking?” Sam asked.

“Not here,” said Trish, casting an eye toward a waiter hovering near their table.

The waiter was a young man in a pair of tight leather shorts, with a leather collar and metal chains dangling from it, framing his pectoral muscles. He appeared clean cut, with a tightly shaved head and not so much as a hint of stubble on his face. His brown eyes appeared empty, devoid of thought, but he wore a smile that seemed to indicate he was feeling particularly satisfied.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” said Marc.

“It hasn’t been ten minutes,” Theo replied.

“I don’t care,” said Marc, before standing up. “I’ll call you later.”

He brushed past the waiter, who didn’t react to the sudden impact of Marc’s shoulder. It simply didn’t register. Trish rolled her eyes and followed him. Sam followed Trish. In the booth, Theo dutifully waited another seven minutes, and finally, stood up and walked out of the bar.