A week before 'Mistress Star's Magic Stage Show' came to town:

"I don't know why you keep wanting me to drink this stuff, Sam, I know you get it free with work but still..."

"Aubrey it's not like you to pass up free shit, you feeling okay?" Sam lounges on their couch, looking up at her roommate. 

Aubrey looks over the pack of blissfuel energy pro, groaning. "This has to be super unhealthy, right? You know I've been going to the gym I'm trying to get off this kind of thing!" 

"All your weight goes to your tits, you'll be fine. Take it or leave it but... well, you've been looking a little tired recently, thought you could use the energy." 

The towering girl, only made taller to Sam on account of herself being laid down, frowns and falls down onto the couch opposite, her heavy chest bouncing in front of Sam's lazy gaze. 

"I look tired?" Aubrey asks, more self-conscious than she lets on. Her finger worms into the four-pack's plastic packaging and tears it open, one of the cans falling into her lap as a glint of gold paper falls into view. The small corner of gold is visible from between two cans in the pack, Sam suddenly lighting up as she jumps out of her seat. 

Aubrey flinches. "Woah, you good Sammy?" 

"I don't believe it! A... Aubrey!"

"Whaaa?"

"Y-you've got a golden ticket! You're going to Blissland!" 

...

Aubrey pulls the slip of paper out from between the cans and looks at it in confusion, this whole situation feeling awkwardly familiar for some bizarre reason.

"I... I am?" 

One week later:

Aubrey stirs from her slumber to the sound of coach wheels rolling roughly over granite and the buzz of excitement from her fellow passengers. She surmises, from her generously spacious seat at the back of the bus, that they must have arrived. How she got roped into this trip she's not quite sure, she has no interest in this Blissfuel product... her roommate Sam seemed awfully jealous, only to insist that Aubrey had to go when she tried to give Sam the golden ticket. Her lack of enthusiasm seems to be shared by exactly nobody else on this disgustingly excitable bus ride. 

A blue haired girl with a sickeningly sweet smile leans over the back of her seat to invade the half awake Aubrey's personal space. "We're here! They say we're gonna be sampling free energy drinks all day long, even some new ones never before seen!" 

Well that's one hell of a wakeup call, Aubrey gives an awkward smile, being more used to filling the role of the wildcard but suddenly feeling like the most normal person in a five mile radius. "Oh uh, sounds greaat..." Sounds like hell, she thinks privately, where do they find these people? 

As she walks off the bus onto the gravel parking area that looks more horror movie set than tourist attraction, Aubrey decides to take a stock of the weirdos she had somehow found herself bunched up with on this dumb factory tour. 

•  The violet haired, bubbly girl who has already polished off a couple cans of Blissfuel on the coach ride. 
•  A haughty looking rich girl who Aubrey thinks seems like the last type of person on earth she'd picture chugging an energy drink, maybe she's thinking of buying the place when she gets a hold of daddy's money? Maybe she's really nice, Aubrey, you presumptuous cynic!
•  A curvy girl whose chest rivals Aubrey's, but her butt is uncontested. The kind of thick you only read about in stories, usually. 
•  A tomboyish character not unlike Sam, she has her hair in a quiff and a long sleeved shirt with flame design. The type that seems too cool to approach, but probably actually has no friends as a result. 
•  And Aubrey, who feels robbed of her quirkiness alongside this group of energy drink fanatical outcasts. 

Well, this is the factory, Aubrey thinks to herself glumly as she stares up at the strangely gothic architecture. To make matters more ridiculous, they are stopped short of the building by an unnecessarily grand gate that halts their advance. 

"Ooh, time for the entrance ceremony, I read about this!" Violet exclaims, barely able to contain her excitement. Actually, she seems to be making no effort to contain anything... 

"Cere-what-now?" Aubrey turns her head, suddenly startled by several rows of fireworks launching up from the other side of the gate. 

Everytime Aubrey foolishly thinks that the last firework has been set off, three more follow and fly up into the air over their heads. Catherine wheels spin all around the gates creating a frenzy of sparks more menacing than it is welcoming, while a voice suddenly rings out over the outside PA system.

"BZZT- Welcome boys and girls of all ages, shapes and sizes!" 

Aubrey turns to her left and right to confirm that everyone here seems to be female and around the same age, if she had to guess, they were probably all in the same year in fact. The shapes and sizes part does ring true, though, she supposes with another jealous glance at the superior meat to her left. 

"Welcome one, welcome all, to a place where blissful dreams and sleepless nights are lovingly forged. Don't turn away now, the gates are about to open, look forward to trying our newest bubble-gum flavoured sports drinks. You'll be the first~"

That sounds gross, but Aubrey once again seems to be the only one who thinks so. She sighs and steels herself, she should consider herself lucky to be competition winner, right? Well, technically Sam bought... or was given, that pack of Blissfuel. 

As if things could not get more ridiculous, a podium begins to rise from the floor on the other side of the gate with a figure stood behind it, two gloved hands resting on the top of a cane. Is this really happening? The podium is hard to make out due to the spinning sparks and the smoke, creating a rather ominous image. As the figure speaks, Aubrey recognises it as they same voice from the PA system.

"Wow, what a spectacular opening! I wasn't expecting half as many pretty colours, my team really outdid themselves. Maybe I should give them shorter breaks so they can apply this much creativity more often. I think keeping an active mind and body can lead to a healthy life, don't you agree~?"

The smoke clears and the figure comes into view more clearly. A woman not much older than any in the group but with more confidence than the five combined. She wears a white suit, her auburn hair curled dramatically and her round glasses almost comically large. She whips her cane around and holds it under her arm, assessing the group with pursed lips. 

"Oh, that, that wasn't rhetorical. My questions will need answering if we're to proceed, your tickets do explain this yes? Participation is mandatory, though do feel free to make us aware of any allergies you may have. Now let us try that again... Do you think Blissfuel leads to a happier and more productive day?" 

Aubrey feels the woman's eyes piercing her before she can even give a reluctant response, while the rest of the group expresses varying levels of agreement. 

"Hmm, interesting, truly. How MARVELOUSLY interesting!" 

Just about everyone seems to jump at the sudden jump in volume from the woman's offputtingly cheery delivery. Good to know the other four are not completely insane. 

"Well let's not waste any more time outside, you must be dying to come inside already. Let me introduce myself, I'm-"

"Y-you're Belinda Blissey, Lady Bliss herself!" 

There's no way that's her real name. That would be like the CEO of burger king being called Burt King or the president of Nintendo being called Doug Bowser. 

"Oh please, please, Belinda is my mother's name! Lady Bliss will suffice, but I should be doing most of the talking and you lucky lot the drinking, I should think. This way now ladies."

A path leads to the real factory doors, making a nice change of pace from the uneven gravel. Aubrey curses under her breath as she watches the life drain from her phone, she used up all the battery trying to drown out the singing on the coach. 

It isn't until the group actually reaches the interior of the surprisingly massive building, that Aubrey understands why people call this place 'Blissland'.

"What... the fuck?"  

The interior of the factory is not, as Aubrey had unwisely assumed, representative of a typical factory by any means. Instead the place is laid out much more like a theme park, the area they find themselves in open and filled with bright colours that contrast its gothic outer appearance. Blisscorp appear to be masters of contradictions, it would seem, Aubrey's head spinning as she once again tries to figure out what she is even doing here. 

Upon closer inspection, the place is still very much a factory of some fashion, however... what appear to be theme park attractions do in fact appear to be machines and utilities for manufacturing purposes, be it bottling or even seemingly producing the swill they call Blissfuel itself... is it normal to do everything in one building like this? The clear pipes that seems to shoot about the place in an array of colours certainly give this place a cheery vibe if not that of a mad scientist's laboratory. Spiral prints and disconcerting smileys adorn the equipment also, reminding Aubrey of how a dentist's office uses similar tactics to appear less threatening to child patients...

"Now then, what do we have first? Oh please feel free to use any of the water coolers as much as you like, each one is filled with a different flavour!"

A... A different flavour of water right?

The twisted wonderland seems to be quite the spectacle to the other girls, who have no trouble with it's somewhat unsettling vibe. Aubrey suddenly wonders if she is simply being a buzzkill, until her eyes meet with Lady Bliss who stares right back at her with curled lips. Gulp. Something is definitely very weird about this company.

"Oh I know, before we go to the sampling centre you simply must take a ride with me on the river!" 

"The what?" Aubrey blurts, no longer able to restrain her incredulous questioning within her own head.

"The river, are you deaf girl?" Lady Bliss giggles and leads the group through winding paths and fake trees down a set of stairs. They must be underground now, Aubrey thinks to herself, wondering just how large this place is. She'd never even heard of this company until a couple of years ago. The lower they go, the sweeter the scent in the air. Inhaling it through her nostrils somewhat reluctantly, it has a sort of... chemically scent, which seems hidden behind the sweetness. Aubrey just hopes it isn't dangerous to be breathing this in and continues down the steps, resigned to whatever fate waits her at this 'river'.

A pink boat bobs on a pink liquid, residing inside a pink tunnel. To some comfort Aubrey notices the other girls reacting with just as much surprise as her, this is certainly not the sort of thing you see every day. One girl in particular, seems more excited than the rest by a significant margin. 

The criminally curvaceous Augustine's eyes practically sparkle at the sight of the pink river, oh god, it can't be... no, that's too stupid a reason... It... it must be her favourite flavour?

"Not too close now dear, don't want to fall in~" Lady Bliss teases as she leads the group onto the pink boat, which looks as tacky as her outfit. 

"Excuse me ma'am, where exactly are we going? It almost looks like this water flows downwards..." The posh girl inquires in a predictably British accent, Aubrey starts to wonder if she fits a stereotype she isn't aware of too...

"S'not water Verity, it's Bli--"

"Yes yes we know, but I want to know--"

"Down we gooooo!" 

And before anybody could say another word, the boat begins to move at a frightening speed down the tunnel which does indeed flow downwards, the occasional light zooming past them... or it would be more accurate to say they zoom past the lights. Aubrey's eyes dart around in panic, the group lighting up every now and then as they pass a light, the rest of the journey spent in dizzying darkness. 

Flash. Her eyes lock with Augustine's. 

Flash. Then the tomboy's, who looks down at the floor, seemingly unfazed by the hurtling energy drink riverboat. 

Splash. Next her eyes fall on the violet haired- wait, splash?

Flash. Eyes circling back around, she notices that Augustine's seat is now empty! She... she couldn't have..

Aubrey quickly moves to stand up but a cane suddenly halts her. 

"Remain in your seats, unless you wish to fall in too? I've contacted somebody to collect miss Augustine, worry not~"

Returning to her seat, Aubrey is not sure what troubles her most... the events that just transpired, or that the girl she was so envious of is apparently called Augustine.

"Wait, Lady Bliss, you know all our names?" 

"Of course I do, Audrey, you all submitted them in your profiles for the ticket submission. Do you not remember your... submission?"

"I remember submitting Aubrey, not Audre--hhrrk!" 

"And we're here!"

The boat comes to a jerking stop at the bottom of the manmade river, causing everyone to jolt forwards and almost fall out of their seats. Not a problem for Augustine, who somehow managed to fall overboard much sooner. 

The now group of four along with their guide make their way off of the boat and are met with a new level of weird. 

"This is where all our new flavours are created, gosh you can just smell the creativity in the air, or is that just blueberry? Our new flavour is, of course, Blueberry Bubblegum~" 

Violet's eyes widen.

"So we get to sample as much as we like right? Even the new flavours? Are we, are we okay to go do that now?" Violet seems to be much more interested in what lies ahead instead of what was left behind. Well, Augustine is probably in good hands...

"This whole place blows." The tomboy breaks her silence with the voice of reason, Aubrey smiling.

"You think so?" She moves a little closer to the other. "I'm Aubrey, I kind of don't want to be here."

The tomboy doesn't turn to face Aubrey, instead throwing her head back and rolling her eyes like a spoilt child. "Yeah, cool. I'm Tivvy. I thought we'd just be drinking Blissfuel not going through some creepy ride. Miss Bliss, how much longer does this go on for?"

"It's Lady Bliss."

"Whatever."

Aubrey swears she sees a vein bulge in the guide's forehead. 

"However long you can last..."

...

"...in this place without simply having to try a sample! Come, come, come." The woman gestures, heading over to a contraption on the wall where different smaller tubes lead out of the flowing pipes. "Come here, this is a tasting station! Or a sampling station, you see, we use this to make sure the flavours are as they should be, but it can also be used to give guests a first hand taste."

"Ooh, me, pick me! I want to taste." Violet perks up, thrusting her hand up into the air. Who can argue with that? Verity scoffs, crossing her arms and giving the blue haired girl a disapproving look.

"Very well then, would you like to come and try the newest flavour? Our newest refinement has just been completed, I hear it's much sweeter... it may not be final however, so do keep that in mind."

"Blueberry Bubblegum? I'd love to try it, Lady Bliss! Which one is it?" 

"Ah, that's not connected to these stations yet, follow me ladies~"

The group follows the woman into a large, round room, with an alien looking machine in the centre. This place is just too weird to properly process. Lady Bliss marches into the centre with an excited hop in her step. "Come, come look at this!" She pulls down a lever and the machine springs to life, blue lights blanketing the group and a series of whooshing and whirring noises heard from within the contraption. 

An arm extends from the front of the machine and a small glass, roughly the same size as a shot glass or an espresso, drops down and lands at the end of the arm. A trickle of blue liquid begins to fill the glass from a small hole at the top of the extended arm and the group watches in stunned silence as each try to make sense of what they're seeing. Isn't this... needlessly elaborate? Out of all the companies to be so obnoxiously theatrical, who would suspect an energy drink brand? 

"Is... is that it?" Tivvy asks Lady Bliss, her disappointment palpable while Violet just stares. 

"Is that it?" Lady Bliss retorts, her impatience with Tivvy growing. "Do you even know what that is?"

"It's Blueberry Bubblegum." Violet mutters, practically licking her lips, her hands reaching out to retrieve the small glass. 

"That it is, but that's a concentrated dosage, it's the purest form our flavours come in and--"

Violet gulps down the whole thing like a shot, much to everyone's surprise and to the apparent concern of a mid sentence Lady Bliss.

"Oh dear. How do you feel, girl?" The woman asks, taking the empty glass out of Violet's hand and checking her eyes. 

"I feel... kind of funny, that was really bitter. N-no offense."

Lady Bliss tuts audibly. "Well yes, that needed mixing, what you just gulped down was too concentrated. If you'd let me finish, you'd have known that."

"Oh." Violet blinks slowly. "Why do I feel so... tiinngly, though?"

"As I suspected." Lady Bliss continues, gently pushing up one of the girl's eyelids and then releasing it. "Too late to quell the effects, I'll have a crew come out here."

"A what?" Tivvy asks with a sceptical look. Aubrey concurs, this seems a little shady, if Augustine or this place in general had not already presented a red flag. 

"Nothing to worry about ladies, we have to keep moving! Young Violet here needs helping out, we just need to make sure she's okay after drinking that."

"M-my skin is going bluuuee." Violet giggles, her voice slurring like a drunkard while she barely seems able to stand. Her skin looks fine, but clearly she's having some sort of trip. What exactly do they put in these drinks? 

"I must say..." Verity begins. "...this is all very peculiar. Violet, are you quite alright?"

"I'm turning into a bluueeeberrryyy~" 

"I... oh, I see, is that a problem?" 

"It feeells..." 

Everybody stares at the slumped figure of Violet, her lips stained blue and her eyes unfocused. 

"Flls..."

...

"...sss..."

"Sorry ladies, she won't be able to keep a coherent train of thought let alone say anything meaningful, for quite a while." 

"And why the hell not?" Tivvy speaks up. Aubrey finds herself surprised at how much of a backseat she seems to be taking, but maybe she's just more tired than the rest on account of having not chugged several cans of energy drink on the way here.

"Well." Lady Bliss puts a finger to the corner of her mouth, trying to think of an adequate response. "Simply? She can't think of much to say, because she's just a blueberry! Well, we moving on?"

"I've never seen such a bad reaction, that girl must have had some sort of health condition. How sad that our products can't be enjoyed by everyone. She's in good hands, girls, you can trust me on that. Where do you want to visit next?"

"But... Violet was obsessed with your drinks, that doesn't make sense."

"Yes yes well the world is full of mysteries, each as expansive, exciting and elusive as the next."

Aubrey curses again, why does her phone have to be dead at a time like this? Lady Bliss brushing her off like that really sends a chill down her spine, this place feels like another strange accident lurks just around the corner. 

"So this is the canning floor, or that's what I like to call it cuz' it's where we can all the drinks!" 

The enthusiastic energy honestly feels even more unsettling now the group of five has become three. This area is certainly more what Aubrey had expected to see from a place like this. In fact, compared to their previous locations this area is honestly a rather generic looking factory. Conveyor belts line the room and cans are constantly moving from one end to the next. 

"So, is this it? You guys made a video game right? Can't we see something like that." 

"Ah, right you are Miss Tivvy, I can show you our media centre next if you'd like?" 

The girl nods, seemingly placated, while Verity looks over the factory floor. 

"These are all a single flavour... are we seriously to believe you have a floor like this for each drink you sell?"

"Oh, heavens no, we can them in batches, but you're not incorrect in thinking we have several other canning floors. This one just so happens to be my favourite, however!"

"Er, why's that? It looks like nothing special." Aubrey once again pitches in, only being able to restrain herself from commenting for so long. 

"We have implemented a new procedure for our workers, so they can let off a little steam. It's also a very competitive environment, underperformers act as both stress relief and motivational warnings for the other employees."

"That sounds..." Tivvy starts, looking horrified. 

"Like an impeccable solution." Verity startles the others as she chimes in. "My father could learn something from that, he has no talent at keeping the workers under his thumb, none whatsoever. I knew this would be an informative trip for when I take over." 

It's almost comical how right her presumptions were, Aubrey thinks to herself with something resembling a grin.

"Well I'm glad you think so! Would you care to be a volunteer, then? I'm sure you'll learn a lot about our new procedure."

Verity smiles neatly. "Oh, I'd be honoured." 

"Quite a simple system really, let me show you." 

The group is led around the workers to a panel by the wall on the opposite side of the factory floor. 

"As you can see, there's a light on here for each worker in their respective positions, but one of these is always red." Lady Bliss taps the red light with her well manicured finger, the rest of the lights a solid green. "This is the bad nut of the floor."

"Bad nut?" Verity asks curiously, seeming to be taking mental notes.

"Precisely, the least productive employee currently on shift. Right now it's the gentleman at A6, luckily for him he gets a second chance, as we have a volunteer for this tour."

"I'm... the bad nut?" Verity doesn't literally gulp, but Aubrey feels it anyway. 

"Why of course, dear, you did volunteer after all. Think of how much you can learn from such a position, knowing how it will influence your father's work force directly, it's invaluable experience."

"I um, I suppose. Yes, quite right." 

Lady Bliss presses in an override code and the red light turns green, a red light appearing at the previously dimmed 'DEMO' in the corner of the panel. 

"Step into the marked area on the floor please, Verity, everyone else step back."

Neither Tivvy nor Aubrey dare question why they are required to step back, knowing better than to throw themselves in the way of whatever is about to happen. A short siren sounds marking the start of this demonstration, which is apparently representative of a real procedure implemented daily here on shift. The bad nut is identified as the person occupying the red light's spot, which in this case is the 'DEMO' area. 

"I... what, exactly, is going to happen? I-I'm not sure that-" Verity is silenced by another short alarm which startles the now skittish twenty-something, who looks up just in time to see some sort of extendable arm that has lowered down from the ceiling, it appears similar to the one that had produced the Blueberry Bubblegum flavouring in the previous room. Instead of dropping liquid, however, the arm continues to extend until the small opening is a few inches away from Verity's frozen face. A small, concentrated burst of gas shoots out from the hole and then in an instant, the arm begins to retract back up into the ceiling. 

Verity's eyes widen in shock and she takes a sharp inhale of breath, the light pink mist disappearing from sight as quickly as it appeared. 

"What the hell is that?" Tivvy asks a composed, smiling Lady Bliss.

"Nothing to worry about. It's just something to make the bad nut suggestible and calm, it also acts as a mild aphrodisiac, which we consider a nice compensation to balance out the punishment."

Verity slumps, like Violet had, but she seems more lucid. "I feel so relaxed." She looks it, her shoulders completely sagged along with her head which droops gently. 

"Yes yes dear, now, come here." Lady Bliss clacks her cane against the floor firmly and Verity obeys, slowly walking over to the woman. "Now, you're going to be punished as part of the demonstration, just like we do with the employees when they're chosen as a bad nut. Do you understand?" 

Verity sluggishly nods, her eyes fluttering when Lady Bliss grabs her chin. "Good girl. Don't worry, it isn't so bad, now follow me."

Aubrey and Tivvy watch, surprised by their own inaction, as Verity is led over to what looks like some sort of chute in the wall and is bent over, the front half of her body completely lost in the wall while her rear sticks out into the air of the crowded factory. Lady Bliss caresses the tush with her hand before lifting up the bad nut's dress and pulling down her panties. The underwear falls down to Verity's ankles but the girl barely even seems to react, though it can be hard to gauge her exact reaction when her upper body is no longer in the room. The workers line up in single file by the chute and... one at a time, they walk past and give the bad nut a firm spank on the cheek. 

At first, Aubrey and Tivvy think that Verity must be regretting agreeing to such a messed up demonstration, but as the spanks continue, the girl's muffled moans grow louder and unmistakable... by the end of the punishment, the young businesswoman's orgasm and trembling legs are quite the spectacle... one of her high heels clattering down onto the floor and her painted toes curling hard in pleasure and pain. 

She really is a bad nut. 

"So, you got a plan?" Tivvy nudges Aubrey, while the sounds of ass smacking and echoing whines fill the factory floor. 

"A what?" Aubrey quirks her brow, still processing this demonstration. 

"Duh, we gotta get out of here, this place is batshit. Don't tell me your red flags haven't set been set off yet?"

"Oh, right, my red flags were set off quite a while ago. I think we're underground and I don't really know how to get out of here, though. Who knows what'll happen if we say we wanna leave, might be us in the wall next."

"You got a good point. Okay... okay, media room then?" 

"You what?" 

"She's taking us there next anyway, it's a media centre, so might be a way to get a message out or something, they should have wi-fi too hopefully."

"My phone's dead, yours?" 

"Dude I'm good, I've got a charging bank. No worries there, we just need to play along for now then."

"Right, the... the world needs to know about this. I'm fairly fucking sure they're breaking the law, right?" 

Tivvy gives a slight nod as her eyes look past Aubrey's shoulder and she whispers. "She's looking at us."

Aubrey slowly turns to meet eyes with Lady Bliss, who beckons them over. The two reluctantly approach to see how red Verity's poor cheeks have become, then they notice her drooling slit... 

"You two still haven't joined in, quick, you're the last ones to go." 

Tivvy and Aubrey look at each other, realising they had just agreed to play along. 

...

Smack.

...

Smack.

"Verity will have difficulty walking so we shall continue the tour without her." Lady Bliss says with a smile, Verity's rosy rear in Aubrey's peripheral vision just behind the woman. Both girls just nod, needing to play along while they wait for the media room. "Where did I say we were off to next, then?"

"The media centre." Tivvy responds with some unmistakable urgency in her tone. 

"That's right, that's right. I hope it hasn't been too much of a bore so far, miss."

"It's... alright, I just wanna see that stuff more, y'know?" 

"Quite~"

Out into another corridor with Verity just a distant memory like the two before her, Aubrey and Tivvy exchange another unsure glance at one another while Lady Bliss leads the front. 

The media centre is another assault on they eyes that completely clashes with the rest of the interior areas. This time, the large room is completely white and lined with tons of tiny monitors, along with larger screens on the back wall. Several chairs and benches are littered around with headsets connected and there are some private booths reminiscent of those covered arcade machines you would sit inside of. 

"It's empty..." Tivvy remarks while rubbing her arm. Aubrey understands how the other girl feels, this place is sort of unnerving when it's so quiet and empty. It almost looks like one of those liminal spaces she'd heard Sam go on about after sitting through a 30 minute YouTube playlist to avoid doing any work. 

"Today yes, but we usually have our lovely work drones fluttering about doing whatever it is they do, also this is the only part of the building that is open to the public even outside of this tour though we've closed it today for your convenience."

"Yeah, uh, real convenient. There supposed to be just static on the televisions?"

"Oh dear child no!" Says the woman only a few years older than them at the very most. Her hand pushes against Tivvy's back and thrusts the tomboy in front of one of the static monitors. "Take a closer look. Can you see it?"

"What the- see what? The hell are you--"

"Look. Closer." 

Aubrey fidgets, not one to usually be timid but this entire situation feels so weird and wrong. She remembers that they had come here to look for some way to connect to the internet. With her phone dead and Tivvy... occupied, her head turns to look for a computer or maybe even a charging station. 

With nothing in sight, Aubrey feels desperate and her eyes land on the one place left to look. The booths. 

"I... I don't see shit, lady, get your hand offa me..." 

"Don't you though? Surely you're just being stubborn, this is our state of the art media centre, so let your eyes savour the cutting edge. It's not static silly, it's every star in the night sky. Every twinkle in every mother's eye. Every bubble in a frothing head."

"My eyes kinda feel..." Tivvy blinks, straining her eyes before closing them and turning away." 

"Oh dear... are you okay?" 

"Jesus, this place is so fucking creepy! What the hell was that just now? You can't tell me that wasn't like, some weird cult shit or whatever."

Lady bliss covers her mouth with her hand as she chuckles. "It's nothing so exciting, just an energy drink factory tour. You do have an active imagination. Tell me, you drink our products right?" 

"I don't think I'm gonna be buying any more." The girl responds, a little breathless from her outburst.

"Your patronage will be sorely missed I assure you. How about you, Aubrey dear?" 

Both heads turn to where Aubrey had been standing only moments ago, only to find an empty space.

"Hm. Oh, well she won't get far."

"She won't, what?"

"Your confrontational attitude is cute, Tivvy, but I think you might start to reconsider if you just take another look at the television. You do like your screens, no?"

The inside of the booth is surprisingly unsurprising, two smooth black seats with an angled screen behind a pane of glass opposite. Aubrey closes the black curtain to engulf herself in darkness. The lack of any lights is disconcerting, the girl unable to even make out her own hand in booth now. 

Well, there seems to be no obvious way to interact with this thing, so Aubrey surmises that this too is a dead end, no way to send help from here and certainly nothing useful for figuring out how to get out of this place. Just as she moves to leave the booth the girl feels pressure against her head as a helmet of some fashion lowers down onto it and pushes her into her seat. Just as suddenly her wrists are clasped into the armrests and do not show any signs of give when she struggles against them. Music plays into her ears from the headset as a series of light colours flash over the visor screen, causing Aubrey to squint from the brightness. The colours slowly start to dim with each flash until Aubrey realises the vizor is in fact transparent, the colours having been projected onto it by a light above the headset. The booth's screen comes to life and starts to play some kind of introductory video, while the transparent Vizor flickers with some sort of projection too fast for the girl's eyes to make out. 

"Hello and welcome to BlissTours, we wish you a fantastic day! Here at BlissCorp, every day is an energised delight, filled with productivity and pleasure. If you're here it can only mean one thing, you're one of us, and we're so happy to have you onboard. We once again apologise for any discomfort caused by the restraints, however you have been informed that rare muscle spasming has been recorded in fringe cases as well as slumping that may effect the imprinting process. We know you're all caught up, though, wavers signed and minds all set. This process should take a week at most after the initial imprinting, after that, we're afraid our current estimate for the BlissGirls commercialisation is as far as 18 months away. We're hard at work and want you to know, you're here on the ground floor, so the waiting list is relatively short. If you have any questions or wish to remove the imprinting in the following months, you should be in contact with a sponsor. A full refund will not be supplied however you will receive a partial refund of $1,000,000 as a goodwill gesture. As agreed, some light programming will be added to the imprinting process to ensure your cooperation and to prevent scandal. Thank you for becoming a member!"

The screen suddenly flickers off once again, leaving a very confused and disturbed Aubrey in complete darkness save for the flickering light dancing over her vizor. Her heavy breaths are the only noise in the booth, unable to hear whatever might be going down between Lady Bliss and Tivvy.

"See? It's actually very pretty if you look past all the ugly static, right? We've been working on more visual mediums after out little test run with the game disks. It's difficult for us as a company, who started out with only chemical control, but if we pair it with subliminal activators like this then we can let the dormant chemical blossom! Activation words and triggers are partially effective but ineffective in the long run, it requires the target to already have been programmed and activated in person. Oh, silly me you have no idea what I'm talking about do you? I have all this stuff swimming around my head but nobody to talk to. I get why bond villains always love their speeches, you gotta get these things off your chest when you're this devious. Oh but look at you." Lady bliss giggles, her finger tracing over slack-jawed Tivvy's cheek. "You've never been activated, doubtful that you've ever been hypnotised, yet here you are feeling the effects. You girls are all such success stories, our first subjects to be activated without attending my sessions first, a step away from manual activation and a step towards the BlissGirls project's future." She cups the girl's cheek and tilts it towards her, Tivvy suddenly tensing up and trying to remember why her eyes are so unfocused and her head dizzy. "Your future, dear, is to be a product."

"A... what? Wait, what was I just..." 

Lady Bliss releases Tivvy and circles around her, clawing her fingers into the girl's shoulders and guiding her in front of one of the larger monitors. The screen flickers and shows a mirror image of Tivvy staring back. 

"A product. A BlissGirl! When finalised, every girl who drinks our product will have the same fate, isn't it great? We could do the same for boys but there's a much smaller market there, so that's why we market to girls despite being an energy drink supplier. Good girls like you are what we want. Cute, pliable, in your prime. You know how much you're worth? This honestly has to be the best low risk high reward scheme my dear mother has concocted to date, wouldn't you agree?" 

"I-I... huhh... is that... me?" 

"Of course you agree, a good BlissGirl says yes without a second thought. Say yes, Tivvy."

"I-uhhh-yesss."

"Good enough, for an early prototype. Programming through just chemical and subliminal is going to take much more work, that's a hurdle we're close to clearing though. Hm, I do wonder where Aubrey ran off to."

Tivvy strains her eyes as her digital reflection stares back at her. She feels so light and weak, unable to tear herself away.

"That's you. Take a good look." 

The digital version of her, reflected by a camera, stares just as intimately. Both versions of Tivvy blend into one, so when the girl on the screen smiles...

So does Tivvy.

The restraints around Aubrey's wrists unclasp and the headset lifts from her head. Once again, the booth is devoid of all light. Once again the girl's heavy breathing becomes the only sign of life inside. She clutches her head, feeling what seems like a migraine coming on before it quickly fades away as soon as it came. Trying to remember what she just sat through, Aubrey can only recall the opening message before drawing a blank. Even with her phone dead and no wristwatch the girl can tell she must have been in there a while, considering how stiff she is when she exits the booth back into the clean, white media centre. 

Whatever it is she just watched, she's thankful that it seemed to return her to a normal state after, but the fear of not knowing what it might have done to her mind in a vulnerable state makes her uneasy. 

Aubrey circles back around the set of booths to find Tivvy's back towards her, the tomboy stood in front of one of the larger monitors that simply plays static like it had when they had entered. 

Approaching cautiously, her eyes darting around to try and locate Lady Bliss, Aubrey reaches Tivvy and gently places a hand on her shoulder. The other girl makes no response, just staring slack-jawed into the TV screen. 

"Tivvy? Now's our chance to get out of here, I'm sure we'll find some stairs or an elevator or something come on let's just--"

"I'm not... I'm going to stay here a while, I think."

"Why would you want to do that? Come on..."

"I'm... I look pretty, don't I?" 

"Err, yeah, more handsome than pretty but I like th--" 

"Not this me, the me on the TV." Her hand reaches out to the screen.

Aubrey sinks, feeling suddenly isolated. "There's nobody on the screen, Tivvy, just static."

"You have to look deeper. I thought so too, but then it all made sense. Look, would you? I'm sooo pretty." 

"Shit..." Aubrey waves a hand in front of Tivvy's face and her eyes don't even move.

A voice sounds on the PA system. "BZZT- Aubrey, looks like you're the winner, come see me through the red door to take a ride on the glass elevator with me. I await your arrival, eagerly, the other exits have of course been sealed. So you don't get lost~" 

Aubrey looks around for the red door and, resigned to her fate, feeling defeated and alone after Tivvy's descent into blissfulness, she makes her way towards it. 

The red doors are not ordinary doors but in fact, elevator doors. To their right is a panel with a single button on it, an arrow pointing upwards. Aubrey presses it with some hesitation, watching as the two red doors slide open almost immediately. Through them, as promised, appears to be an elevator room made of transparent glass. In the centre, is a single glass chair pointing towards her, behind that stands a smug Lady Bliss. 

"Quick, quick, we're almost at the end now! I had to summon you here because you ran off, where did you scarper too? Oh never mind that, just take a seat for me."

"If I do, will I go all loopy too?"

"Didn't you hear me? You're the winner, you made it all the way through without going 'all loopy'. If you don't trust me--"

"Of course I don't trust you!"

Lady Bliss grins. "Tell me dear, how much BlissFuel energy you drink on average in... let's say a week?" 

"None. My roommate is obsessed with the stuff, but I don't touch it... almost caved before this ticket popped up."

"Wh-what?" The smug grin vanishes and Lady Bliss suddenly looks white as a sheet. "No, no that's not right. We chose our recipients well... That... that wasn't your pack was it?" 

"As I said." Aubrey continues with more confidence now, figuring out now that there must be something in the drinks. "It was my roommates. She's literally a part timer here, well, not here she's in marketing."

"Shit... shit! I knew one of the selected was supposed to be a BlissGirl already, how could I forget?"

"What's a BlissGirl? What are you doing here?" Aubrey jumps as the elevator doors slide shut behind her. 

"I've already filled my quota on exposition today, sweetie, so could we kindly skip to the part where you're sitting down nice and pretty for me on this lovely seat? I have some affairs I need to get in order."

"Why don't you sit in it?" Aubrey asks, her anger growing... oh no, she's almost at the breaking point. She is prone to... destructive tendencies, once fired up... whole lot of glass in this room too.

"Ah, very well then." Lady Bliss smirks, regaining her composure and sitting down on the glass chair before crossing one leg over the other. She rests her cane over her thigh sideways. "And what now?"

Aubrey feels defeated once again. She was fully prepared for a confrontational response, so having her suggestion so casually obeyed is startling. "How do you get this thing to open?" Aubrey asks, looking over the panel and seeing only one button, reading: Top floor.

"Oh no you can't do that I'm afraid, this thing only opens again at the top. It's one way, my lovely glass elevator."

"Why? Why would you design it that way? And why is it glass? We're underground!"

The woman chuckles, looking far too comfortable from her seated position that it starts to unnerve Aubrey once more. 

"It simply is." 

Aubrey sighs in frustration and hits the button reluctantly, knowing that the chances of getting out of this place in one piece is a long shot. Whatever they are doing here is obviously illegal, so they'll want to stop her from getting out and telling the world. 

"Well we have an elevator ride ahead of us, we might as well chat... what's going to happen to me at the top? Are you some sort of cult?"

"Why does everyone think we're a cult all of a sudden? We're simply a business, though as you might have guessed one that takes it's matters above the law." 

"And my first question?" Aubrey asks, a little more shakily than she would have liked. 

"Nothing is going to happen to you at the top of the elevator. You won't reach the top of the elevator." 

"Well I don't see anywhere else I could go!"

"What I mean, dear, is that you think you're immune... but the fact is you're not."

"What are... you saying?" 

"To put it less eloquently, you've been drugged. Your consciousness won't last long enough to reach the top."

Aubrey looks around the room frantically, searching for some way in which Lady Bliss' words could ring true... maybe a gas of some sort?

"Your vision will start to fade soon, just look at the pretty glass."

The... glass? Aubrey's eyes move over the glass and suddenly remembers the vizor, how it seemed like it was just transparent but had something imperceptibly projected onto it with a subtle flicker. Could this be the same? 

"When?" The girl stammers, leaning her back against the elevator wall as she scrunches her eyes closed.

"When, what?" Lady Bliss responds in a sing-song voice, clearly enjoying herself.

"When did you d-drug me?" Her eyes flicker open with a will of their own and she notices that her vision has indeed started to blur, everything now out of focus. 

"Oh you silly thing, you were drugged before you even left the coach."

"I-"

"Isn't it strange to you? This whole place is a mismatch of contradictions and absurdities, right? I mean, we're just selling energy drinks here, we're not Willy Wonka! Simplest answer is, none of what you saw was real."

"None of... what? Real?" Aubrey's words slur and her sentences stop stringing together, she thought she needed to drink their stupid product to be effected... she dropped her guard. 

Lady Bliss stands up and clicks her cane against the floor. "None of it, no. In fact, this is the only room you have been inside the entire time. Come here and sit down."

Aubrey's left foot drags forwards across the floor, followed by her right. No longer in control of her body, sudden overwhelming apathy triumphs over panic. She sits down in the chair and slumps.

"This is the only place you visited, Aubrey, the only memories you made were on this seat. And you know what? The trip was cancelled, I'm afraid, so the coach had to turn around. Say it."

"Trip was... cancelled. Had to turn around." Aubrey parrots in a voice lacking all expression. 

"Good girl, then that must mean... you're still sitting comfortably... in the back of the coach." Lady Bliss snaps her fingers crisply and Aubrey jolts awake, having nodded off on her seat in the coach. Her head feels groggy but it slowly clears up. 

Violet leans over the back of her chair to talk to Aubrey, wearing lipstick matching her hair... 

"Rise and shine, tall girl! Did you miss the bad news? The tour has been postponed due to some issues or something, I'm so bummed. Oh well, it's later than I thought it was so probably for the best, they should totally do it earlier next time."

Aubrey nods, feeling confused, was she sleeping this whole time? How long was this coach ride, are they already on their way back? Her eyes fall onto the curvy Augustine, whose outfit displays more skin than she remembers. Then onto Verity, who for some strange reason is stood with her hand holding onto the metal bar, when there are plenty of free seats she could take. Finally, she looks over at Tivvy. There's nothing particularly strange she can find about Tivvy's appearance... that girl is awfully pretty though.

Aubrey throws herself onto the couch with a heavy sigh, tired from an entire day of fruitless travelling. She knew she should have just stayed at home. 

"Oh, there you are, had fun?" Sam asks, walking into the living room while wiping her red face. 

"I... hey are you crying?" Aubrey is taken aback by her roommate's puffy eyes. 

"N-no, not really." She flops onto the couch and presses against Aubrey like they were a couple, but with Sam she simply acts like a housecat with those who have the misfortune of living with her. 

"The trip was a waste of time like I said it would be, uh, no offense. I met some strange people though, we exchanged contact info so there's that... Tell me about your day."

"I let my bestie stay in your bed last night... and the night before. Now, now I don't know when I'll see her again..." Sniffle. "...but I'm happy for her, she's gonna be great!" 

Aubrey stays still for a long moment, gently patting Sam to console her. 

Aubrey stays still for a long moment, letting her roommate's words process slowly.

Aubrey suddenly sits up and looks Sam in the eyes with a serious expression. "What do you mean? I've only been gone a day right?"

Sam stares back at Aubrey with a dumb expression.

"I've only been gone a day right?"