July Moonflower - Rise & Shine

I wake up in a sprawl, laying on my back and watching the ceiling fan spin around and around for a good half hour before I can muster the strength to sit, let alone stand. March is made of sterner stuff than I, apparently. Will I be offering up my name to them soon, too? If 'Madelyn' really has told them everything, then I suppose they already have it. With great effort, I drag myself into the bathroom and splash my face, drinking several glasses of water before even thinking about leaving this room. 

Are those background subliminals playing even now? I look down at my ruined bikini bottoms and shudder, undressing and hopping in the shower where I give myself much needed relief in relative safety. Hopefully getting this out of my system will allow me to stay on task for the rest of the day. Yes, because that worked out so well last time July. 

"Ugh... losing my mind." I assess my face in the mirror, still flush, eyes missing their sharpness. Feeling like a declawed kitty, I dry my hair and change impatiently, wanting to leave this dangerous room and enjoy some fresh air outdoors. At least out there I won't be compelled to touch myself by unseen force, what a humiliating assignment this is. When I get back to the garden, I'll have to ask January for some time off. 

When I get back... somehow, I'm not even able to convince myself anymore. I've been running around in circles this entire mission, tiring myself out until I've no fight left. I think that from the start I was considering that I had no chance of succeeding where Agent 3 had failed, placing her on a pedestal I could not scale. It's clear to me now that this weakness was well known and capitalised on, that March has been weaponised against me from the very start. Just how much did she tell them? How much of the woman I fell for is left in that resort girl I've seen living here all too comfortably?

Even now, I'm only playing into their hand with these thoughts. I excise them as best I can, pushing out of my hut with a deep exhale and slamming the door shut behind me. No need for pretences now, but where should I go? The obvious course of action is to pivot to a stealth operation and sneak into the manor in a manner befitting my actual skillset, but with their cameras and my current state... can I even pull it off? I've no equipment, could Jan really not supply me with anything? I could have concealed something, but she was insistent that I go in naked. I've used equipment in the past that does not even show up against metal detectors... though, I've yet to even see security measures like that here. 

I drop low to the ground and circle around my lodgings, keeping my eyes peeled for cameras and guards alike. Getting the impression that this is a now or never operation, a last ditch effort of sorts, I strive to catch them off guard and send encoded message to the garden even at the cost of my own safety. They need to retrieve March before she's lost forever. 

My feet drag a little, whatever I was injected with last night really having done a number on me even if it has mostly run its course. Another misdirect with the soap, it's the injections that created these eerie sleepwalkers that run the island. They really do want me running in circles, I've no choice but to break the wheel apart and see what I can uncover in the rest of the cage. The problem with a prison inside of a prison is that once you do break out, you're still incarcerated. 

Fortunately for me, this resort is centred by the manor and has no surrounding stations save for lodgings and pools, meaning that the watchful eyes cast outwards and only outwards. I can take advantage of this one way coverage and hug the manor wall closely, finding an infiltration point even if it requires me to subdue a staffer or two. If it's the sleepwalking sort, I could knock them out without breaking a sweat. Perhaps I can find entry through a window, I sidle across the impressive building while looking out into the resort in case a loose-lipped lady like dear March decides to pry too closely. Thankfully I've woken up bright and early, nobody else seems to have gotten up and started exploring just yet. Usually I would use my make-up mirror to carefully search the windows without giving myself away so easily, but I have to play a little riskier this morning. Turning corner and finding entrance into the kitchen, I roll over the tiled floor just in time to hide in the shadow of the centre counter as the only person here moves the shut the window from the breeze. How fortunate. I take advantage of their distraction by moving in the opposite direction on the other side of the counter, slipping out into a hall I don't recognise. This is past the point where us resort girls are permitted to stray, it's quite empty for the time being but I know well that I'm far too exposed here. 

Sometimes, even in my line of work with a record that has yet to see me occupy a morgue, you need to make educated guesses when floor plans have not been provided to memorise. Thankfully most buildings of this size are laid out rather similarly, so I have an idea of where to go. Carefully, silently, I traverse the corridor, ignoring doors that I do not think will lead to productive ends. No, I have a goal in mind, a specific door I've my sights on that I only realise seems strange when my hand already turns the knob. 

"Ah, there you are. Not the entrance I was expecting, doll." The redheaded guard sits at circular table with a dry smirk, causing me to halt in my tracks. Did I even think to check before barging into this familiar room? This was the door she had exited through yesterday, I really have come the long way round... "You seem confused, and here I'm told you're smart. Thought you'd have figured it out."

"I... I have." I grit my teeth, closing the door behind me as though I have no other choice. All this time, I've been sneaking around in my element, ignoring all the other doors as though I had sound tactical reasoning. All this time, I've been following a trail laid out for me while pretending to have everything under control. Given what I know, it's not too hard to realise what happened. Just as they did in my private room, they must have been playing subliminal audio throughout the manor, guiding me here while letting me think I have a chance of escaping them. In an act that shocks even myself, I let out a small laugh. A weak sound that seems to please this woman before me, Val. 

"You can't resist the program, love. You were trained not to and you're a very dutiful agent aren't you? Can't forget your training, now. Come and sit." 

Snap!

I do as I'm told without question, my heart pounding in my chest as I consider just how caught in their web I am. None of this makes any sense, how could they have... 

"Do you want to know how we got our hands on it? If I'm reading you correctly, that's something you still need a little help with. You agents are valuable assets who pledge yourselves to your superiors, right? Your value isn't only in field operations, y'know? And it ain't exactly your place to question how you're utilised when you signed your lives away for the good of your country or whatever." Val lights a cigarette, leaning over to turn the television in the middle of the table back on. Looking down, I notice the distinct lack of that usual paper cup and its tenant. 

"I don't... uhm, what are you saying?" My confusion isn't an act this time, though I wish I could speak with more confidence, more resilience. 

"We bought it off your master, as part of a package deal with your agent friend, number three was it?" Val grins cruelly, puffing the stick in her hand without a care in the world. "It was in your commander's best interest to make peace, see? A fair transaction, nobody has any right to complain. Your number one didn't anticipate us making your agent buddy quite so talkative though, could barely shut her up from spilling secret after secret that your boss thought she'd locked up tight in that pretty head. So opportunity arose, we've no real desire to go to war with an intelligence agency that could wipe half of us out before seeing any meaningful retaliation so ah, just trades between friends eh?" She takes another drag, blowing the smoke in my direction.

Once I'm finished coughing, I put the pieces together a little too easily, feeling calmer than I'd have expected. Is the screen pulling me again? Why even bother fighting it... "You mean... me?"

"We had some additional leverage and Maddie was real keen on seeing you again, between that and your commander admitting she was getting frustrated with your sloppiness in the field... it was a done deal. Purchase made, you delivered yourself onto the sands of our lovely paradise. We're just breaking you in softly, Sara, there was never any hope of extraction. Any messages you send to your commander will be ignored and deleted, you're exactly where she wants you." 

My eyes lose focus and I swallow absently, unable to find a fault in her logic or expose an obvious inconsistency. I've been sold off, used in a trade for... for the good of my country? The words seem so bitter now, I never considered that my recruitment would ever end with such petty negotiations. And yet, beyond all of these feelings of betrayal and disgust, one thought reigns supreme. 

March asked for me? She missed me that much? I feel so weak as my lip quivers, wanting to confirm the sincerity of those words so badly. Instead I decide to take a deep breath and look around the room for anything I can use to turn the tables on this brute. Even if there's no hope, I can't just give up...

"Is she still being stubborn, ma'am?" A cheery voice sounds out from the usual entrance behind me, causing me to stiffen up in recognition. March closes the door behind her with a hum and brushes past me to adorn Val's arm like a trophy. The sight almost breaks me by itself. "I tried to explain all that boring stuff to her last time, she's just always been slow on the uptake. It's cute, right?" The former agent turned bargaining chip pinches the cigarette from the trainer's fingers and takes a drag herself. In a place like this, it has as much a chance of being a regular old smoke as it does being laced with god knows how many chemicals. I decide to abstain when she offers me a turn, barely able to lift my hand to refuse. 

Val snorts, grabbing March by the chin and pulling her deeper into the suited woman's aura. I watch as Agent 3's eyes flutter and she leans her body into the other's with a tantalising curve down her bare back, giggling when the husky woman kisses her. It's a rough, demeaning kiss. One that March seems all too happy to indulge. 

As the two pairs of lips finally part with a string of saliva that makes me feel sick, the woman in control turns to look at me while March is stuck staring up at the other in adoration. "Look at her, smitten. You know you'll be joining her soon enough right? Guess you were already all over me this time yesterday morning, ahaha." 

Ignoring her, I give March a pleading look one last time. "Maggie, come on... this isn't you. I... you're just trying to get close and lower their guard, right? Right? You're right there just... ugh... please just show me you're still... you?" My voice shakes, fingers gripping the edge of the table as even now I find my eyes keep trailing towards the static in my peripheral traitorously. 

March finally turns to look at me, propping herself up against the other as she practically sits in the enemy's lap wearing nothing but her sunglasses. That sole accessory comes off when the redhead beside her decides to show me just how gone my partner is. "Look at her, Sara. Really take a look. Do you think she's in a position to listen to your whining over the crap we've been feeding her for months? She's so loyal and obedient, so owned and controlled." A hand slips under the doll's chin and holds her head up for me to inspect, March melting into the touch as even her coy smile fades away. I can see just how far gone she is, but I still refuse to accept it. 

"Mag-- Madelyn, listen to me." I start, not finding the words I need to convince myself let alone her. Still, I persist. "You need to snap out of it... okay? Please, for me. You... you care about me, don't you? You told me as much, once, sober even!" I laugh, sounding a little hysterical as my attention is divided between my appeal and the lulling screen. "Show me that you care about me, that... that you lo--"

I'm cut off by the woman named Val pulling March close and whispering into her ear like the infamous snake of Eden. March lights up and nods, giving me a bright and hopeful smile that has me deluding myself even when I know where this shift in attitude comes from. Despite knowing this, I want to believe so badly that I broke through, ignoring the obvious truth before me. 

"Okay Seven, you win. I'll show you just how much I care... you've always been my favourite, you know that." March gives me a smile more reminiscent of the woman I fell for, once again stealing Val's cigarette as she closes the small distance between us with two careful steps. Pulling my arm away from the table I had been clenching fiercely, she presses the scorching embers into my skin and holds my arm in tight grip as I squirm against the painful sensation desperately. Panting into the air from such a cruel show of supposed care, I'm caught off guard by her again. "--and how much I love you." Still holding my arm, she yanks me forwards as her lips envelop mine, familiar warmth I can't deny. The pain has me seeking comfort, melting against her love even if it should feel tainted and wrong. 

When she pulls away, I stare dumbfounded at March. Lost and confused, dizzy and hot. My arm burns and my lips tingle, wanting another kiss so badly that I lean forwards and she has to catch me. "Now, now." Val chides me and I feel more susceptible to it, like I can't disappoint them if I want another kiss. "Eyes on the screen, not the floor."

Snap!

Two pairs of eyes flick towards the subliminal static automatically, March just as beholden to those overriding snaps. I'm still not able to focus, or even think clearly, so I know that I must be letting all manner of subliminals right on by. Again, I want to laugh, but this time I'm far too relaxed to even try. When I realise why, cold needle pushing fluid into my neck, I manage a self-derisive smirk at most. 

"There you go, dear. Nice and loose, not a care in the world." I recognise the voice, that out of place British accent that so matter-of-factly put me in my place the day before. If she's here too, then it's getting really... crowded? I whip my head around drunkenly and the woman holds it steady, shushing me comfortingly. "If you're looking for your friends from earlier, they've been gone for hours. You've been spacing out in front of my latest test, like I said before... full marks so far, I'm very proud you know."

I lift my head, giving her a confused look she intentionally misinterprets. "No no, not of you silly. I'm proud of myself for adequately assessing your willpower and meting out these tests accordingly. I've no need to be proud of property, of purchased goods I rightly own. If anything, your initial stubbornness should be a point of shame for you not knowing your place. Feel shame."

Snap!

As the emotion floods me in an overwhelming bout of shame, I understand how far I've fallen into their hold now. How conditioned I must be that my own feelings can be altered with a simple snap. I'm ashamed of myself for not resisting better. I'm ashamed of myself for ever believing that I had a chance of success in this rigged assignment, this transaction masquerading as mission. I'm ashamed of myself for making Jan think she had to trick me, instead of being trusted to simply follow orders. 

My eyes flutter and I feel the chemical sleep starting to take over, but this time I'm dragged onto my feet and made to stand like those staffers I've seen in distant reverie. Paradise is lost to them, they're somewhere else entirely. I wonder where I'll end up, sight blurring completely and throat drier than a stiff rag. The woman who claims to be my owner leads me upstairs and every step feels like a mountain, my eyes completely glazed over as her hand is the only guiding force left in my life. 

A door closes behind me and none other open, end of the line? If I could get my eyes to focus I would be met with the lady of the manor's exquisite bedchambers, cushions lining the floor and a veiled bed that dwarves the one in my hut or back home... home... where is home? I'm not home, am I?

Several of the woman's concubines decorate the room, kneeling with the same blank expressions and making me wonder if I'm wearing something similar right now as my vision slowly returns. "You're going to sleep in here with us tonight, Juliet, a test run if you will." The woman speaks softly, guiding me onto my knees atop a silk cushion as she lifts my arm with delicate touch. Did she just change my name? Just like that? They have my real name, but I suppose that's... outdated. Juliet's a pretty name, I suppose I don't hate it. "How's your arm, dear?" My gaze trails down to meet a plaster I don't remember being applied, not knowing how to answer her question when I can barely lift my head by myself. She simply smiles and kisses me on the forehead, which I can't deny enjoying. She's so... motherly? It's a far cry from the girl she pretended to be when I first met her, a better cover than mine which... turned out to be less of a lie than I thought. 

As the woman steps into her ensuite I turn to look at the girl beside me, so close that our knees nearly touch. I'm surprised to find that I recognise her, a foreign intelligence agent I've traded blows with in the past. My career has seen very few fights, it's a sign of an assignment gone awry usually, but I remember this once like it was yesterday. The woman gave me this scar on my thigh, yet now she simply looks at me like I'm a stranger. Better still, like I'm a sister. 

Why can't I get up from this damned pillow? It's like... I'm exactly where I belong. If I had to guess at the subliminals I've absorbed today in those missing hours staring at the screen, I'd say they're responsible for these strange thoughts of belonging I'm experiencing. This place undeniably feels like home even if I know that's wrong. March is here, that's enough of a reason to tempt me on its own. Is she here in the room? I want to be by her side... 

I spy a face through the veil of the owner's bed and my eyes widen, realising there are women here with higher privileges than I. March gives me a smile through the wispy cloth, pulling it aside and mouthing words to me I have trouble making out before winking uncharacteristically. Or maybe it's perfectly in character for her now, who am I to know these things? I... I'd like to be someone close to her. 

Someone with bed privileges. 

Juliet - Final Descent

Two weeks later

"-hahaha, sure. Oh, she's right here, would you like me to put her on? I'm taking good care of your agents, Allison. What? Don't like it? How about Ally?" Owner chuckles as she flips her hair, throwing one leg over the other on the edge of the bed where she sits. "Ah ah, your idle threats are no good here. Seriously, would you like me to put her on? You're more maternal than I thought, don't think I'll turn a blind eye to their sisters if you decide to interfere with my business dear. Ah, she's right here." 

Madelyn's arms release me when the snap rings out in front of us, ushering me close as I crawl over the bed and sidle up to Owner with a slightly confused expression. Fingers ruffle my blonde hair, cut shorter on Val's whim during the weekend she had me to herself for. "How uhm, how can I serve you?" I ask unconfidently, still learning the ropes here even after a fortnight of trying to be good for her. The first week was especially teething, lingering resistance and old instincts needing to be ironed out before I was good enough to take to the mattress. 

Owner gives me her usual warmth, placating me with soap and smile. I feel her arm close around me and rest my head horizontally on her shoulder as I stare at the screen in her hand. Ooh, more subliminals? That's my first thought, but I'm quickly surprised with my old owner... or ah, commander, giving me a cold look from the other side of the glass. 

"Good Morning July, how... have they been treating you?" January asks me plainly, causing me to tilt my head in response as I wonder if I'm supposed to tell the truth or not. Is July a nickname for Juliet? I guess I like it, but I prefer when Maddie calls me 'Etta' as she takes me on the sheets. Much more fitting. 

When I turn to look up at Owner, the woman chuckles and nods. "Oh uhm, good? Very good, I mean. I... I like the pool? The beach is okay too, but the salt water gets--"

"See, she's just fine. Her hairclip? What hairclip? You'll find anything to complain about, Ally. Okay okay, calm down!" Owner shuts me up with another laugh, making me blush in embarrassment and bury my face behind her shoulder as January starts berating her on improper use of her technology this and wasting such potential that. I can tell she doesn't really mean what she's saying, because I'm exactly where she needs me to be. It's all performative, like when we do roleplay. 

I happily flop back onto the bed, my head falling right into Madelyn's waiting lap and rekindling our play from earlier as the boring conversation wraps up in front of us. Once the woman on the phone finally goes away, Owner turns to face us with a sigh and starts complaining about 'bureaucracy', I'm not exactly sure what she's talking about but I love when she uses my body to vent her frustrations so happily play along. 

"Juliet." The woman beckons me over after my nap, offering her hand as I gladly take it. "You're a good girl. Do you like being here, really?"

My eyes dull a little as weeks worth of conditioning decide my response for me, powerful truths I can't deny. "I have fun here... I like belonging to you... I... I'm happy to be with Madelyn, too." I plant my hands on the woman's knees, leaning forwards in a practiced arch. 

Owner grins, holding my chin between her fingers. "Oh, you're taken with her aren't you? Remember the first test we gave you with our special subliminals, dear?" I nod into her touch, cheeks heating up. "Well, that was a white lie. The very first required a lot more groundwork, to tell you the truth, so we decided to conduct it on the cargo ship you were holed up on immediately preceding your arrival... aha... you have served an assignment or two with your fellow agent here, but beyond that... well, we start to stray into fantasy."

"Not anymore we don't!" Maddie's arms wrap around me from behind, her lips littering my back in loving kisses. "Me and Juliet have done every sex act under the sun, she's the best." 

"I... huh?" Despite the overwhelming heat enveloping me, I feel a chill run down my spine. Just what is Owner telling me?

"You were just regular colleagues in a rather icy profession. Madelyn here tells me you were actually rather cold with her when you crossed paths, but she had a bit of a thing for you regardless. As we said before, it was she who convinced us to make the transaction for you to enter our lovely little paradise. I wanted to see just how far Allison's repurposed tech could be pushed, to see if we could turn a cold working relationship into some steamy tryst over the course of one voyage. I had Val record the audio then layered it with the program. Suggestions had to be subtle, like building blocks, so even I'm not exactly sure what ended up in your head. We asked you to pull from real memories but turn them into ones of Madelyn here, to conjure up any old crushes or sparks of warmth. Slow and steady, but it's a lot of sailing isn't it?"

My mind goes blank and I simply nod, Maddie's lips tracing over my neck like soothing patches. I've always had strong feelings for her, haven't I? 

"Juliet. I control what you wear, where you sleep, when you eat. I control how you think, feel and what you want to do for the day." My heart beats out of my chest as Owner kisses me, revelling in the way she holds her power over me so confidently. "And if these tests have proven anything to us, it goes beyond that doesn't it dear?" A short pause, her smile curling so tightly I can hear it.

"I control who you love."

Snap!

January Peony stares at her phone screen long after the encrypted call has ended, the sight of her Agent 7 docile and submissive burning into her retinas with a healthy wave of regret. "Out of all the girls in my garden to pick, why her..." The woman named Allison mutters bitterly, throwing the phone onto her desk in frustration and reaching for her pack of cigarettes before remembering once again that she quit. 

"Your days are numbered, harlot. God, these fucking people are getting too bold..." Commander of The Garden squints up at her board, a picture of July's new 'Owner' pinned up by several darts thrown with some malice. The nerve of that criminal to speak with such familiarity over the phone while parading her subordinate around like that...

A fist slams onto the desk and Agent 1 appears surprised by her own outburst, picking up the picture frame on her desk that she had just knocked over. It's a framed photo of her 'happy family', a joke made by July when she presented the strange gift. As January reminded her overzealous underling that nobody in the garden had time to make or maintain family, the blonde shrugged and said "I know" before adding "But that doesn't mean you can't aim for something close, right? Check inside the frame." and then leaving with sudden bashfulness unbecoming of a Garden agent. 

January slips the concealed photograph from the frame and sighs as she recalls that night, when her fresh faced recruit had somehow convinced her out for drinks in a lull between assignments and even paperwork. The usually stone faced commander had gotten so shit-faced that she ended up kissing the starstruck rookie, an act she'd feel great shame for in the morning. Since that night, July had grown bold and started calling her commander 'Jan', even if it was a breach of protocol and assuredly unprofessional... the woman could not help but let it slide. Flipping the photograph in her hand and tracing the handwriting with her thumb, Allison decides she needs to pour herself a drink. Something strong and obnoxiously fruity. 

To my role model, may our next kiss taste a little better than that awful drink and last a lot, lot longer.

Sara x