BlissGirls - From Helena with Love
by tara
If you'd like to check out more of my writing, I write live stories at https://fiction.live/user/tara.
A girl sits alone in a dark room, lit dimly by the glow of a monitor sat atop an unassuming desk. The room is filled with the sounds of her fingers clacking away at a keyboard on the desk, occasionally clicking with an attached mouse or stopping to take a swig from her bottle. The girl is checking her email, responding to some while deleting others, marking some as spam even... that fate is reserved for horny fans who think it appropriate to contact her via a business email.
Helena huffs, impatiently sending another to the spam zone. These losers really need to understand the boundaries of a working professional, the Helena they know is not a real person and the Helena they don't should not be subjected to this desperate filth. On turning 23, Helena had decided that she was going to apply herself and climb the ranks in the shady company her mother works for, yet here she is just a month later... now a glorified e-girl with an OnlyStans account and a few mindless thralls, more than a few if you count her general fanbase.
Sighing loudly, the girl swivels away from her monitor to give her eyes a rest, taking a deeper swig from her drink while thinking over things in her head.
It became obvious to her that something was seriously strange about Blisscorp, starting with that hazy sports day at the end of their final school year. Her memory of the day is fragmented, scattered, but as far as she can tell she knows more than most. Helena recalls sharing her Blissfuel, so that could explain why she was less affected, but that's only a theory. Either way, things only became stranger from there on out, causing Helena to investigate. She knew that her good-for-nothing mother held a relatively low ranking position in Blissfuel's parent company, so decided to dig around whenever her mom was out at work.
One week after sports day
"Prototype stage... initial baseline test successful... test batch potent, 100% effective on subjects from baseline, effects weaker on general public without activation."
Helena frowned, most of this made no sense to her, but she got the impression that she counted among these 'subjects', so did that make the baseline test their school's sports day event? How were they activated? What does that mean? The girl groaned, her search for answers only leading her to more and more questions. Looking back at the screen, Helena's eyes suddenly widened, the sight startling her and causing her heart to race with panic. Filling the screen of her mother's monitor, instead of the report she had uncovered, was her own face.
"Hello, Helena was it? It's naughty to look through classified company secrets, but I forgive you. Why don't you sit back down silly, no need to be so startled."
"How are you doing that?" Helena asked, trying to figure out how her own face was talking back to her, like a magic mirror.
"Sit down and maybe I'll tell you. We both know you're too curious to run away and give up, you're already this far."
"But if I sit down... you'll..."
"I'll what hon? Hypnotise you? Control your mind? Empty your head and make you think, say or do whatever I like? Don't be naïve, you're young not stupid. You've read enough to know I already have my roots in your mind, I could switch you off right now without lifting a finger. I don't want to do that, though, not right now anyway. I enjoy conversation more than I do talking to a puppet, besides I think you're special."
"I'm special?" Helena takes a seat, looking curiously at the low quality video feed of her own face talking back to her, noting that the voice is distinctly not her own. Helena swears she recognises it from somewhere.
"I think you could be very useful for me and I'm a good person to owe favours from as I'm sure you will soon find out, so why not make a deal with me? You're clearly interested in me and mine, given this adorable sleuthing of yours, did it not occur to you that the confidential information you stumbled upon might have been a teensy bit too easy to discover. Our security is top of the line, even in a backwater town like yours."
"I want answers, I need to know what's really going on with this energy drink. Why can't I remember clearly?"
"Oh. You remember something? Please, tell me."
"I remember feeling great... no, amazing. I felt powerful, even when I was doing what I was told... I made others submit and then we... well, I must be misremembering."
"You made the weaker girls service you? You had an orgy on the field, right? I believe the hierarchy went something like this, teachers on top, then the special girls like yourself, then the rest of your peers."
"Why do you keep calling me special?"
"Would you rather I lie? I'm intrigued by you, that is all."
Helena tapped her foot, feeling nervous and warm. This woman seemed dangerous, the ringleader of these strange events. Also the woman responsible for making her feel so good... she found Helena intriguing? The girl knew she was probably being manipulated, but the woman already pointed out that she was not free to begin with.
"Tell me why I'm intriguing." Curiosity got the best of rational thought, Helena's ego surfacing... did her doppelganger just smirk?
"You're all want want want dear, it's exhausting." The woman lets out an exaggerated yawn, making Helena do the same after a short delay. "What will you do with this information, call the police? Try to take us on in court? Uncover the great conspiracy all by yourself? Such wasted potential, I could use somebody like you..."
"Quit it with the hard sell, I don't need to be manipulated into joining you... I was considering the option already, I mean my mom already works for you and it beats doing a business degree and getting a shitty job."
"You may still have to do some shitty things, this is not a handout."
Helena shrugged. "Just make me rich while I'm still in my twenties, I'll be whatever you want me to be."
Helena was caught up in the moment, she knew she had a choice between the right thing to do and an easy life.
For the first time in her life, Helena felt special.
For the first time in her life, Helena felt useful.
"I'm special." Helena mutters bitterly under her breath as she stares at the broken ceiling fan in her cramped bedroom. Since that fateful encounter with her mysterious boss, Helena has performed her duties as they are given, piecing together more and more what this company really is. Blisscorp's end goals seem to include some sort of indoctrination or passive control of the public, to unknown ends. Their drugs are still in an early developmental phase, the only people strongly affected being those 'activated' at their old all-girls school, who have acclimated and accepted the alterations the chemical makes to the mind. Some of the researchers have even found ways through different delivery methods to alter the human body. If Blisscorp is on the level of rewriting genetics then something is very wrong, this goes from a small scale shady brainwashing scheme to... something huge, scarily so.
Helena chews on her pen, having second thoughts, this is getting out of hand. The Blissfuel drug still affects non activated people, they just can't be controlled too deeply. The streaming partner program was initiated to test the exact potency of suggestion in subjects both activated and not, their biggest success being found in 'Belle', who was completely reprogrammed through the test. None of the non activated subjects had that strong a reaction, but light trance states were confirmed in several. Once Blisscorp gets past the bottleneck of activation, an apparently non-viable step for mass deployment... they could theoretically have people thinking what they like, even changing their physicality to suit whatever whims they may have... she may have.
The troubled girl has not spoken to the woman who hid behind her own face since the day she was recruited, in hindsight she was probably given the illusion of choice in that situation... she really is weak. The thing that bugs her most, is just how familiar the woman's voice was, it sounded like a voice she once heard daily... a voice from her past somehow sealed away.
Another test program was the Blissgirls marketing scheme, pretty pink airheads made from her old school's least conventionally girly students... this gave Helena the worrying impression that these tests are more for entertainment than purely scientific, this manipulator she works for is toying with her classmates and she helps lead the way. Not that Helena feels guilt or shame, she's ultimately the same, this woman is just a more powerful bully than she ever was.
Finally, Helena's mother decided to go off script and indulge herself unprofessionally, sinking her claws into one of her classmates and claiming her body for her depraved cravings. Helena wonders if her mom could simply not resist the temptation this power brought her, or if she did this intentionally as a way to spite her... saying, I have this power over you too, just remember that. The woman was almost punished but Helena's supposed usefulness managed to pardon her mother's unprofessionalism, not that Helena wanted to save her mom's reputation or career particularly.
The streaming experiment is currently ongoing, Belle is currently considered an unreliable test case due to having unexpected exposure to a concentrated dosage of the chemical used to placate the activated subjects. From what Helena could gather, Blisscorp dealt with the issue but Belle's natural resistance had been eroded significantly by the ink delivery method by the time the partner program started. Helena rolls her eyes, Tyra Dayone has always been far too easy to wrap around her finger, some things never change.
The recall experiment was used to test the subjects conditioning in a stressful environment and to check for weaknesses or flaws. Tyra was already deeply conditioned, while not the intention of staff it ended up being a useful example of effective reprogramming. The Blissgirl models were reunited together in a small space to test their self-reeducation abilities and to see if they recognised one another as former classmates, it was a success. Rachel was probed to ensure mother had not divulged secrets to her or over-exerted her, but was then swiftly handed over. They're all so weak minded, Helena scoffs. The girl is oblivious, likely by choice, to the obvious fact that her mind too has been altered from its natural state to better please her employer. Part of Helena is even grateful for the adjustment, it just makes her life easier after all.
Blisscorp has been trying to further their operation too quickly recently so Helena has had more of a mess on her hands to clean up after, what are they in such a rush for? Trying to distract herself from the most recent mess involving the botanical research department's mix up causing a hypnotic houseplant to take over a dormitory room, Helena goes back to her email. Oh look, the first is feedback on her report about Sam and Aubrey's adventure... that's swell.
Aubrey, an unknown from the city, seemed to fall under the plant's effects just as quickly as the activated Sam, so this event seems important to the higher ups as the closest they have gotten to surpassing activation. Helena wishes she could remember what the activation was, did they just slip some serum into the water fountains at school? No that couldn't be it, if activation were a chemical solution like the formula in Blissfuel, they would have no issue making their brainwashing widespread.
Making a mental note to just go over this tomorrow, Helena is about the shut down her computer and head to bed for the night before receiving a message.
A message from you.
Welcome to you.
You are a budding, freelance reporter from the city who was one of the witnesses to the strange event with the three girls in fountain square and immediately sniffed a scoop!
The girl in pink was the only lead you had, she reminded you of a girl you saw in some weird advertisement a few days prior. She was definitely not the same girl, different build, but the outfits and mannerisms were uncannily similar. A little research here, some coffee there, you had found the advert again this time a slightly different one with a slightly different girl.
Not the same girl from the square either, but now you had an even stronger lead, Blissfuel energy. You started looking into Blissfuel and then its parent company, Blisscorp. The first thing you found were rumours online of conspiracy, including brainwashing and all kinds of science fiction nonnense. The company seemed... clean. Not in a good way though, it was actually way too clean, barely traceable. It felt shady, but in an organised, well funded sense. Part of you considered stopping here or at least sharing your findings so far, but the ambitious journalistic spirit within you realised how big a story this could be if you just saw it to the end. Finding actual names of employees, never mind how many were even employed, was a unique challenge. In the end, you only managed to get access to the enrolled interns of which there were a handful. You chose to start with an intern named Sam, soon finding that she was the cute girl from the square you had started this rabbit hole with. She seemed to know nothing, you concluded after following her for a few days. The girl did bump into you at one point and offer you a stick of gum, but you only took it as evidence... evidence of what, you have no idea, you just don't like gum.
Next you looked into a girl named Helena as she had been an intern the longest, but after several days of nothing... you began to feel desperate. This investigation of yours was heading nowhere fast and you had to consider pursuing new stories and cutting your losses. As a last ditch effort, you recklessly decided to send the intern an email, tired and figuring that the interns would be the least dangerous entry point into whatever this was.
A question regarding your employer
Serious.JournalistHi Helena, I'm a reporter looking into your employer, I'm not trying to put you in an uncomfortable position with this and I'm not intending to unfairly drag Blisscorp through the mud either, but if you could help clear some things up for me that would be much much appreciated!Hope to hear back from you soon,Modest Reporter
Helena raises her eyebrow as she reads through this eccentric request, who solicits an intern for company queries? Either this person is unprofessional, or they know enough already to play cautious. Should she tell somebody about this, or deal with it herself? Leaving a suspicious reporter snooping around could spell trouble. If only to amuse herself, she sends a response.
RE: A question regarding your employer
Helena.HollystoneHi Modest, if that is your real name. Just kidding, but sure I can answer if it's not against my contract, but I'll have to make sure, also you never actually asked your burning question. It's not about those dumb rumours about mind control and hypnosis is it?Regards,Helena
You cringe, she knows exactly what you wanted to ask. Sure, there are more grounded questions you could start with but really you just find yourself curious about the more interesting conspiracies. Something dramatic like that gets found and the story writes itself, how could you not gravitate towards such a thing? Time to bite the bullet and make a fool of yourself, it's not like you have a name attached to this fake email.
RE: RE: A question regarding your employer
Serious.JournalistHi Helena, sorry to disappoint but you have hit the nail on the head, please put my mind at ease and let me move on! Hypnosis being real would certainly make my day job more interesting.Thanks,Modest Reporter
Helena stares at the reply for a while, before a wicked grin covers her face. This is exactly what she needs to take her mind off things, she has seen enough to know that hypnosis is indeed real, she just needs to show you.
Are you sure about that, reporter?
Helena.HollystoneHypnosis isn't real? If you believed that I doubt very much you would still be here reading this email, so at least you find yourself on the fence right?Not quite sure what you believe, so if you're so willing to let me convince you that it's not real, may I also do the opposite? I think that it's only fair, right?That's a good reporter, curious to the end.Hypnosis isn't forced mind control nor is it brainwashing, you simply let yourself drift down into a peaceful, relaxing trance, usually guided by another's words or even sometimes your own as they take over the conscious side of things to let you slide into a mindless relaxation.You let yourself become open and vulnerable, simple and satisfied. That simplicity is a nice feeling, free from burden and stress, worry and obligation. Just letting somebody else take those and place them to one side so you can feel good.Hypnosis is also about obedience, it feels so good to obey, obediently sinking into trance and letting your willpower become consumed by the hypnotist. Hypnosis is, after all, an act of complete submission. Think of it like an exchange, dear, becoming as obedient and loyal to me as you can while I make you as relaxed and happy as I can.As I write about these things, such as obedience and relaxation, you may find yourself wanting to experience hypnosis for yourself, how couldn't you? If you consent to slipping under my control then all you have to do is just keep reading, it's that simple.All you have to do is read each and every word, alllllll the way to the end of this email and by the end, you will be completely under my control and eagerly awaiting instruction. That's just a fact, because hypnosis is an act of willing surrender, anybody who wants to experience trance can do so easily.In fact, I think you might surprise yourself with how quickly you start to find yourself under my spell, affected by my hypnotic words. Lets focus on another one of those enticing words I mentioned, okay?Relax.Relaxing is another incredibly easy act, isn't it? All you have to do to relax is stop and to focus, the only two steps required provided you are sitting or laying comfortably. Give yourself a moment to get comfortable, this is an email so no need to rush. Now, where were we? Oh yes...Relax.You're still reading? Then you must be wanting to fall down into a hypnotic sleep, even if only to see if you can. You can, trust me. You will, but first you need to relax your body so that your mind can drift unhindered.Remember those two steps to relaxing? That's right, first I want you to stop. Find a position you can comfortably keep yourself in and just let yourself come to a rest. Now I don't want you to go stiff or rigid, I want you to be still, releasing all tension from your body and just going limp in your chair or bed.Yes, just like that, you can still move to scratch an itch or to reposition yourself, whatever makes you the most comfortable you that you can be.Already feeling more relaxed? Of course you are, hypnosis is real and you've started preparing for trance already. It's nice to just pass over control, you're already obediently following my every word right so trance is just the next logical step.What was the second step for relaxing? Yes, focusing. I want you to focus, can you do that for me?First I want you to focus on your toes, give them a little wiggle if you like, just focus on how they feel. You're not stood up, you're resting, relaxing. All the tension in your toes has evaporated and they just feel that soothing warmth of relaxation flowing through them.Now I want you to focus on that warmth, everything it touches becoming fully relaxed as it evaporates all tension and discomfort, those muscles loosening and becoming as limp as can be. Again, this is going to be so so easy to do, all you need to do is read my words and focus.Focusing on the warmth now as it gently rolls up your feet, enveloping them in that deep, loose comfort that you now feel around your ankles likes a soft scarf, just leaving nothing but comfort and relaxation.Letting yourself automatically focus on the warmth as it covers your legs like a blanket, again leaving them completely void of tension. At the same time just feel the same sensation running up your finger tips and past your arms, them becoming oh so heavy as it does.Yes, you start to notice that everything touched by the warmth becomes so heavy that you couldn't possibly move it, just so loose and limp, too relaxed and comfortable to move while I say so.The heaviness is not a painful feeling of weight, but a feeling of serene stillness, almost like you are being wrapped up in my hypnotic spell and you don't want to move and break it's effects, but of course you can still move if you need to become more comfortable without risking the spell breaking.You'll find that the spell at this point is actually quite hard to break, maybe even impossible, it just knows how to take over your body and that you want it to do so. You want this so much and as you feel more of the warmth begin to cover up your torso and up to your shoulders, relaxing your chest and stopping at the neck, you begin to notice another change.The tension leaves your chest and this affects your breathing, just regulating it, letting me control how you take in and exhale your every breath. This will help you relax, so just teach yourself to take slow, deep breaths.Breathe in...123Exhale.123Breathe in...123Exhale.Just let yourself follow this pattern, making sure that it is comfortable and safe, just like how you feel right now. You're becoming more and more relaxed for me, aren't you?Just nod your head a little if you like, letting the physical response show you just how under my control you are... almost like a final surrender.Remember to breathe in, count to 3 and release. Just let your conscious mind focus on this, turning an automatic function over to manual and distracting your relaxing mind while my words are just absorbed by the movement of your eyes from left to right. Each line brings you down deeper, deeper down towards the end of this email.That's right, as you read my words you are indeed sinking down closer to that mindless trance state awaiting you near the bottom. This may excite you, I imagine, because deep down I know how much you want to drop.All this repetition must be making you wonder when that moment is going to come. When you go from awake to asleep, not hypnotised to under trance.I'm delighted to inform you that it does not quite work like that, I do not flip a switch and change your mind from conscious thought to mindless obedience, in fact I mostly guide you into doing that to yourself. I digress, the trance will actually come slowly, gradually overtaking your sleepy mind until you reach the edge and hear that sweet, sweet word.Sleep.You let your guard down so much and relax so deeply, that you start to feel sleepy enough to enter my trance. Trance is of course, different for everyone, but it always feels good. So just relax and sail down, down down. Sailing down towards mindless obedience as you...Sleep.Every time just falling under a little bit more, you may not even feel hypnotised but just focus on how you take in my every word and trust in your subconscious mind while you just focus on breathing.You can trust in me, too, trusting your hypnotist is so important. My only goal is to prove that you can fall into trance, so you can trust that we have the same objective.Still sceptical? Not convinced? Don't worry, just forget how to worry, just let your mind wander away from thoughts of worry and insecurity, stress and the outside world. Just let the room around you start to dim and fade as you focus deeper on my words.Let tunnel vision make my words all that remains as you scroll down down down, deeper and deeper towards the bottom.Your eyes will get a little heavy but just keep them open, think of it as a form of resistance training, as you add keeping those eyes open and that mind just awake enough to read these words and scroll, as you focus on each manual breath, you find that the rest of your limp body and distracted mind just... goes to...Sleep.Sleep deep for me, slipping into trance so easily you must have already been dipping under. It's not uncommon, I assure you. I wonder if you subconsciously played a finger snapping sound in the back of your mind when I told you to sleep, if you did then you may have not even noticed.Why not try it one more time, I'm not going to tell you what to focus on, I'll let you be the judge.Sleep.You are hypnotised, this doesn't mean you aren't aware of your conscious mind or even that it isn't active to some degree, I'm sorry to say that making you a mindless zombie was not my intention. You are hypnotised though, this is your trance, I hope it feels as good as you hoped, I had fun bringing you here.I want you to just enjoy this floaty, heavy feeling of deep relaxation, of having your mind numbed so you can focus on what I tell you. Because ultimately, hypnosis is submission and well, you want to obey me right?Of course you do, even the word obedience makes you smile a little. It's such an intoxicating word, obedience. You just love reading it, hearing it, saying it or just thinking about it.Obedience.You are under hypnosis, you are hypnotised, we proved that. So it only makes sense that you would be obedient, right? I mean, obedience is pleasure. It may sound silly, but I want you to say aloud, whisper or even simply mouth the words "I obey."Do it again, please.Aaaand one more time.That's perfect, you really are an obedient hypnotic subject.In saying or mouthing it, you not only thought it but made it real, stated it outside of just your head, where your fantasies live. Because you are not just hypnotised and obedient in your fantasies, but in the here and now, this very moment.You can take as long as you like to enjoy this head space, or to relax deeper, just lingering as much as you like before deciding to continue reading as I give you one final instruction.Thank me for the trance, silly, it's only fair. You will obey.That's all I needed, so I think we're done here for now, I hope that helped clear up your confusion.Are you ready? I'm going to slowly bring you back up to the surface, starting at 5 deep asleep and ending at 1 wide awake.With 5, you feel deep in trance and utterly obedientWith 4, you let the corners of your vision start to fill back in and your sinking mind begin to riseNow with 3, the weight lifts from your limbs and body, becoming more and more aware of your surroundings and letting your eyes clearAnd 2, almost awake now, just lightly spacey, feeling happy and relaxed before1 Awake, refreshed and back to your normal mind.Good luck with the story, come back anytime for more questions~With love,Helena