[Begin Log]

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] We’re recording. Thank you for having me over, as ever… not that I needed the invitation just yet.

Lily: Yeah, no problem! It’s not like I mind. So this place still isn’t a home, then?

Dr. Stoica: Not yet. That’s what I wanted to ask about. Tell me, have you had any difficulty getting acclimated? What anxieties, if any, do you think may have inhibited that process?

Lily: Anxieties? You’re asking me about what anxieties I have?

Dr. Stoica: The answer isn’t so obvious to the rest of the department.

Lily: R-right… yeah, that makes sense, sorry. Um, I mean, I guess I’ve been worried about finding a permanent place? How long do I have again?

Dr. Stoica: I believe the maximum expected stay for study purposes was three months… though there would be room for extension. We didn't exactly want to force the participants out as soon as they'd gotten comfortable.

Lily: So… that's how long it takes for a home to happen? Three months?

Dr. Stoica: Sometimes much less, it seems. Many participants have made it over that threshold already, though many won't for a while.

Lily: Do you… um, think I'm too… anxious, to do it? Or something?

Dr. Stoica: I'm hardly in a position to tell you that. This is research, after all. I need your answer.

Lily: R-right, yeah, um… s-sorry…

Dr. Stoica: Please, no apologies.

Lily: Yes, Go— I mean… u-um…

[Dr. Stoica snorts]

Dr. Stoica: [Seductively] It's not an order right now, Lily. Just a request.

[Lily groans]

Lily: [Muttering] It could be an order…

Dr. Stoica: It…

[Dr. Stoica growls faintly]

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] Not right now.

Lily: B-but aren’t we doing stuff later tonight? What’s the difference?

Dr. Stoica: [Growling] We’re in the middle of an interview, Lily.

Lily: Y-yeah. No, you’re right… I’ve j-just been thinking about it, um, all week.

[Dr. Stoica sighs]

Dr. Stoica: That’s very sweet. I’m sorry, it’s not you. I’m just still… reeling.

Lily: Oh yeah, because of that stuff with Mary, right? What happened with all that?

Dr. Stoica: …Did no one tell you?

Lily: I’ve… kinda been putting off asking about it. Like, I went to jerk off thinking about you, and then when I came back I’d missed a whole incident. With Dr. Linda, I think? And then it was like, “what if people are mad at me for missing it for that?”, and everyone was p-pretty much just putting up with me before that, anyway, so I’ve just been kinda… y-yeah.

Dr. Stoica: No one I know was ‘just putting up with you’. But disregarding that…

[Dr. Stoica groans]

Dr. Stoica: Well, we’re well off-topic already, but that’s fine. This is more important. Yes, she grew unhinged when she found out about Jessica and Helen. The past weeks have been hard on her… and I was negligent. I know as well as anyone that someone in her position needs a steady hand to grab hold of.

Lily: Yeah, I… know how that is…

[Lily giggles awkwardly]

Lily: So… she took Dr. Linda? Why her?

Dr. Stoica: Something happened between Linda and I some time ago. Before I met you. I… nearly took her against her will. Nearly kicked off a shame spiral which would have destroyed everything…

Lily: Oh, gosh! Is that why she stopped being first on all your posts?

Dr. Stoica: …I would assume so.

Lily: S-sorry, I mean—

Dr. Stoica: It’s alright. That was how you knew me back then. The point is, I believe Mary took her and presented her to me in hopes of kicking off the very same shame spiral herself. And, more immediately, to get under my skin. I could have let her, too… It still feels like a miracle that I didn’t. I… do not think that was a threshold I would have come back from.

Lily: So you would’ve been the evil domme version of you, like, all the time?

Dr. Stoica: You could say that.

Lily: S-sounds hot…

[3 seconds of silence]

Dr. Stoica: …I’m not delusional enough to imagine that it wouldn’t have been. Regardless, I’m happier having averted that possibility.

Lily: Y-yeah, I mean… that’s fair. So they’re all okay, then? Jessica, Helen, Linda…?

Dr. Stoica: Jessica and Helen are feeling safer than ever. None of us are sure why. Linda is…

[Brief pause]

Dr. Stoica: I’ve reached out to her. She was grateful that I had helped her and learned from my mistakes. She also doesn’t want to deal with being around vampires anymore. I can hardly begrudge her that after everything, but that also means I'm unlikely to see her again in person. At least not for a long time.

Lily: That’s… good, I think?

Dr. Stoica: She’s still talking to me over text. That’s the closest to a ‘good grade’ I could have hoped to get out of this mess.

[Lily snorts]

Lily: It sounds so weird hearing you say it.

Dr. Stoica: I said it to Mary, too. I think it connected with her.

Lily: Mary… Uh, I dunno if this is bad taste, but… how’s she doing?

Dr. Stoica: …More clingy than usual. I’ve been stepping back from my work a bit to help her. When I’m not around, she’s been alternating between thanking Caitlyn and apologizing to her. Caitlyn herself has been on a similar cycle with Mary.

Lily: For, um… Mary finding out through her?

Dr. Stoica: Yes. I’m not sure what exactly Caitlyn is apologizing to Mary for, but…

Lily: Maybe Mary’s just… around? I mean, Caitlyn was apologizing a lot to the others, too.

Dr. Stoica: That part made more sense. Though, I suppose… being enthralled… it all blurs together, doesn’t it?

Lily: Yeah…

[Dr. Stoica sighs]

Dr. Stoica: I know you enjoy that about it. She does as well. That’s… why she went back, I assume.

Lily: Oh yeah, what’s the deal with that? She went back… to being Mary’s thrall?

Dr. Stoica: She was the first I convinced Mary to release. She… she has a life, a stable job, a home, but she’s always so… timid. Everything I hear about her parents makes me want to kill them. No trust in her own decisions… I tried to convince her to stick things out, to find some other way to build herself back up, but she didn’t listen. So I promised to protect her, and… we’ve seen how that has worked out. All I can do now is help comfort her where I can.

Lily: I… I mean, y-you’re very comfortable…

Dr. Stoica: …I hadn’t thought my charisma had raised above minimum. Is that what you’re feeling?

Lily: Oh, no! S— I mean— um…

[Lily giggles awkwardly]

Lily: I’m… just… saying… I guess I can relate? My parents, um… I’d been stuck with them for a while, until moving. I— I mean I told you this over email, but I mostly did the relocation stuff to get away from them? But I’ve been kinda… listless… I haven’t, um, looked for jobs at all. I think I’m just kind of useless at this, and… I g-guess that’s the big anxiety with the home stuff? Like— like—

[Lily giggles louder]

Lily: Like, the thing is, if I don’t actually start being a real person soon, I’m just gonna have to go back, and they're never gonna let me hear the end of it! A-and I can’t… I’m basically t-totally useless at everything, so I’m gonna fail, and then I’m gonna have to g-give it all up, and my mom's gonna make another list, and… um… y-y-yeah. S— Um, I f-forgot where I was going with this.

Dr. Stoica: I… believe you just got us back on topic, Lily.

Lily: S— S— Um, i-is that good…?

Dr. Stoica: I suppose I can give you a good grade for it.

Lily: Thank you, Go— Um, thank you…

Dr. Stoica: …Of course. Lily, I… didn’t realize this was so severely disturbing you. It’s no wonder you don’t feel at home yet.

[Lily giggles]

Lily: I’m p-pretty sure it’s just ‘cuz I’m bad…

Dr. Stoica: No. You are as adequate as any of us. And I… don’t want you worrying about this. Allow me to offer some comfort: I promise, regardless of what resources the university provides… I will see you housed for as long as you need. No question.

Lily: W-what!? You… really mean that?

Dr. Stoica: I… I… You’re mine, Lily. I will not let anything harm you.

Lily: [Blissful] R-really…?

[Dr. Stoica coughs]

Dr. Stoica: [Extremely flatly] Besides that, you deserve that basic dignity of shelter. You deserve to be treated as a person… and I promise you’ll be safe here.

Lily: Thank… you…

[5 seconds of silence]

[Dr. Stoica sighs]

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] …Well, there must be some part of you still in doubt, or else I would have had to leave just now. But that’s alright. These things take time.

Lily: Y-yeah, I-I mean… Um… [Unintelligible]

Dr. Stoica: Hm?

Lily: S— S— S-sorry! It’s nothing! J-just kinda… rambling…

[Lily nervously giggles]

Dr. Stoica: Lily… you know I can’t accept that.

Lily: W-well… well… you can’t make me say it, either!

Dr. Stoica: [Seductively] You know I can do that, too… [Flatly] but I won’t. Please, there’s no need to be so afraid of a little embarrassment.

Lily: Well… what if I won’t do it unless you order me to? How about that?

Dr. Stoica: I… I…

[Dr. Stoica giggles]

[Footsteps]

[Lily squeals]

Lily: G— G— G…

Dr. Stoica: [Seductively] We’ve already planned to do such things after the interview, Lily… Are you truly that desperate?

Lily: Y— I— I mean, um… I d-don’t… know? You have to… y-you’d have to make me…

Dr. Stoica: Very well, then… [Very seductively] Lily, you will tell me what you said. Now.

Lily: [Blissful] Yes, Goddess! It’s just that… you said I’m yours, and that I’d be safe, but then I was still anxious… so I just said…

[Lily giggles]

Lily: “I wouldn’t be if I was actually yours.”

[4 seconds of silence]

[Shuffling sounds]

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] What do you mean by that?

Lily: [Strained] I mean… i-it’s n—

Dr. Stoica: Lily. Please. You can tell me, I… I only want to understand.

Lily: I… I mean, it’s pretty obvious, right? I’m, um… well, what if I was actually yours? What if you bit me tonight, and then instead of r-releasing me, you just… just… kept me? And then you ordered me around and made me do stuff for you, and made me clean your floors, and made me clean my floors, and made me drink—

Dr. Stoica: [Growling] S-stop. Please.

Lily: Oh, s-sorry, I—

Dr. Stoica: QUIET.

[5 seconds of silence]

Dr. Stoica: …Thank you. Apologies, I… These topics, they…

[Dr. Stoica sighs]

Dr. Stoica: I can’t do that for you, Lily. You know that.

Lily: D-do I? I mean, you—

Dr. Stoica: [Growling] I CAN'T.

[Dr. Stoica takes a deep breath]

Dr. Stoica: It would be in violation of everything I am. Everything I want to be, I… I can’t give that up now, not after everything, not even for you. I’m sorry.

Lily: N-not for me? So am I just… not… good enough, then?

Dr. Stoica: No, I— I—

[Dr. Stoica growls]

[Bed creaking]

Lily: AH!

Dr. Stoica: [Strained, Seductively] My affection for you is exactly the problem, s-sweetheart. Every time I’m around you, every urge, every impulse, every cell in my body screams at me beyond words that I must take you, subjugate you, use you. You’re a prey animal to me, Lily, I… I can manage that urge, but… to just give in to it…?

[Bed creaking]

Dr. Stoica: I can't do that to you.

Lily: [Blissful] Y-yeah…

[Dr. Stoica sighs]

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] Lily… Clear to normal for me now, alright?

[Lily sucks in a deep breath]

Lily: O-okay. Uh… yeah, I…

[Muffled scream]

Lily: God, the way I couldn’t even hear you say that, though!? Like, I assume you used clear to normal, right? The wakeup trigger? But I couldn't even understand that was what you were saying, it was all just a b-blur, and— and that's SO HOT! I want it to be like that all the time!

Dr. Stoica: I only implemented that to boost the efficacy, but… Lily, did you hear what I said?

Lily: Y-yeah, I did, but… I mean, all that stuff you described, all the subjugation and stuff, you know how bad I want it, right? You're just selling it to me! You're talking about it like you love me so much that you have to hold yourself back, b-but I don't want you to! I couldn’t hope for a nicer Goddess than you! I want this!

Dr. Stoica: [Slightly seductively] You’re… serious.

Lily: …Yeah?

Dr. Stoica: Apologies, it can be hard to…

[Dr. Stoica clears her throat]

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] Hard to tell. Lily, I…

[Dr. Stoica sighs]

Dr. Stoica: Trust me, I understand the appeal, but this is something with wide-reaching consequences. Do you honestly believe that you’ll be happier in old age, having surrendered your life to me?

Lily: I mean, yeah. You’d make me be happy. Also, I mean… I’d kinda regret it if I didn’t do something like this, so…

Dr. Stoica: I… suppose that makes sense. But please, just— You’ve felt it. Your whole body, mind, and soul, lost to me. Can you truly say no part of you is against this? That no part of you would come to resent it? Even one you can’t see?

Lily: I… I guess that’s possible? But I mean, everything I can see just wants to go back to feeling that way, so doesn't that matter too?

Dr. Stoica: [Seductively] You— You— Băga-mi-aș— [Flatly] Lily, you… may have been around me for too long. Would you like to take a moment to clear your head?

Lily: Because of charisma? No, I’ve… been thinking about how good this would be, um, all week. I think… I think I just—

Dr. Stoica: [Slightly seductively] Perhaps I introduced something improper when I bit you, then? Please, if you could just think back to before… b-before you…

[3 seconds of silence]

Lily: …Luma?

Dr. Stoica: Lily…

Lily: You… keep looking for hypothetical versions of me that don’t want this. But, like… I dunno, what if there are none? What if I j-just… want this? What if I’ll always want it, and I’ll never regret it, and— and—

[Bed creaking]

[Lily kisses Luma]

Lily: W-what then, you know?

[3 seconds of silence]

Dr. Stoica: [Strained] Lily… can I tell you why I haven’t given in yet? Besides the fact that I’ll have your blood later either way?

Lily: Uh… sure.

[Bed creaking]

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] I… had to claw my way out of enthrallment the hard way. Until recently, some of my first memories were of using the fortune left behind by someone I only knew as ‘mistress’ to purchase a ferry ticket to America in service of desires I could barely make sense of. All I knew about it was that I had, at some point, lived for over thirty years already, and that I had spent decades of that time so desperately wanting whatever had left me in that situation. I also knew that I still did.

[Dr. Stoica sighs]

Dr. Stoica: So, you’re right, Lily. You would want every moment of it. You’d never want to change a thing. You’d never want to leave. But time changes most people, especially those as young as you… you deserve to have that time. I can’t put you in stasis and hide you from the world, when you’ve barely any perception of what being a complete person is like. Not like what happened to me. Does that… make sense?

Lily: I… guess so. But, like…

[Lily giggles]

Lily: I don’t think I’m ever gonna get a good grade on b-being a person, Luma. Like, all the time? Just going around, being responsible and paying bills and stuff? I can barely remember to eat most days! I just… you make it look so easy, but…

Dr. Stoica: …But what?

Lily: I m-mean, if you want me to be a complete person so bad, why don’t you just make me? Gosh, I bet you could… I’ve been putting off so much stuff forever, and y-you could help me, like, get a house, or just house me yourself, and you could make me take care of myself, and you could teach me how you’re so decisive all the time? Like, as if being bitten wouldn’t already fix me, you j-just… um… uh…

[Dr. Stoica has begun growling quietly]

Lily: Is that… drool…?

Dr. Stoica: [Seductively] N-no, I… I… Well, yes, but…

[Dr. Stoica takes a deep breath]

Dr. Stoica: [Very flatly] W-we’ve only been close for a week, Lily. I can’t… dictate your… needs… a-and I can only trust what you say once enthralled as much as I could trust Jessica when she was. That is, not much.

Lily: W-well what if you, like, released me for a sec, every now and then? Just to check in? Then you could do it, right?

Dr. Stoica: [Seductively] NO. [Flatly] N-no, I mean— I— There’s still the obvious… ethics issues. I feel I must not have controlled for this… must not have… er…

[Lily snorts]

Lily: There’s already ethics issues, though, right? Like, I’ve been looking up to you for ages, but you’ve only known I even exist for like a couple weeks! Heck, you don’t even know my full name! At least this way, we’d just be skipping the question and saying out loud that you’re in charge, right? Isn’t that kinda… better, if you really think about it?

Dr. Stoica: That… [Seductively] I s-suppose there’s less pretense, there… perhaps… and… with b-breaks, maybe I… N-no, Lily, I… I… [Flatly] W-what is your full name, anyway? Is it not just ‘Lily Andrea Kegan’? I feel I've always… always…

Lily: Oh, no. Or— I mean, y-yes, but— but— it’s just that Lily is short for… um…

Dr. Stoica: [Strained] Please, go on…

Lily: Um… It’s kind of silly, but it’s short for… um…

[Lily giggles anxiously]

Lily: Lilith.

Dr. Stoica: …Lilith.

Lily: Y-yeah!

Dr. Stoica: You’re Lilith.

Lily: Yeah, it’s… um… I mean, that was only some of the reason, but…

[Bed creaking]

[Footsteps]

Dr. Stoica: I can’t do this. You were convincing me, but… no. No, I can’t. Never.

Lily: But what if—

Dr. Stoica: NEVER.

[4 seconds of silence]

Lily: …Okay, that’s… fair, sorry. I… I…

[Lily sighs]

Lily: …I guess I’ll have to go talk to Mary instead, then.

[8 seconds of silence]

Dr. Stoica: …Lilith. Lilith Andrea Kegan.

Lily: Yeah?

Dr. Stoica: [Strained] Are you trying to manipulate me?

[Lily giggles]

Lily: I mean… a little? But, like, I’m not really, heh… I kinda don’t think I’m lying. She’s not as nice as you, but… she’d do it.

[Dr. Stoica growls]

Dr. Stoica: [Seductively] You… you're manipulating me. How do I… What is happening right now? How am I supposed to handle this?

Lily: I mean… I can think of one way you could make me stop.

[5 seconds of silence]

[Dr. Stoica giggles]

Dr. Stoica: You… you…

[Dr. Stoica laughs]

Dr. Stoica: The effort it takes to not enthrall you… The actual ordeal! How— How—

[Dr. Stoica starts cackling]

[Footsteps]

[Bed creaking]

Lily: Oh!

Dr. Stoica: And you’re DESPERATE! Y-you NEED this, don’t you!?

Lily: A-are you—

[Dr. Stoica’s cackling stops]

Dr. Stoica: [Strained] You have no idea how much I want to say yes.

Lily: Then do!

Dr. Stoica: I… I… I…

[Bed creaking]

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] I c-could… give you breaks. Time to reflect. To… change your mind.

Lily: And then, I’d be… yours, the rest of the time?

Dr. Stoica: If you… if… every other day, then… maybe… every other day?

Lily: Aw, but then I’d barely be yours at all! Could it be, like… I don’t know, once a week?

Dr. Stoica: I— I— I— Y-you’re not going to let up, are you?

Lily: Not unless you make me!

[Dr. Stoica growls and laughs at the same time]

Dr. Stoica: I… I can… Sunday. It… seems appropriate. You get a day to consider matters, a chance to check in, to talk to me, to stop this. And I p-promise to always, always give you that chance. Please.

Lily: I’d be okay with that! That… that sounds so nice…

Dr. Stoica: Then I suppose… [Under breath] suppose…

[Bed creaking]

Lily: Oh, g-gosh, I— AH!

[Dr. Stoica starts cackling again]

Dr. Stoica: [Very seductively] I suppose you win, then, Lilith! You no longer get a choice. You’re— You're mine now.

Lily: Yes! I—

[Lily moans]

Lily: Oh, Goddess, yes!

Dr. Stoica: G-good girl! GOOD GIRL! It’s time, you— you’ll obey me, and love me, and I’ll never let go, because you’re MINE! MINE! FINALLY M—

[Luma’s speech suddenly cuts off]

Lily: L-luma?

[Bed creaking]

[Quick footsteps]

Lily: Luma, wait!

[Door slams]

Lily: [Under breath] Oh… oh, I… I see.

[Lily sighs]

Lily: [Under breath] Yeah, that’s… I’m s—

[Knock on door]

Lily: [Under breath] What the… [Shouting] Who’s there?

Dr. Stoica: [Unintelligible]

Lily: Wait, is she… Oh, shit. [Shouting] One moment!

[Lily grabs the tape recorder]

[Footsteps]

Lily: Luma? Did it…

Dr. Stoica: [Muffled, Seductively] …Yes. It would seem that really was the trick.

Lily: That’s… are you okay?

[Quiet growling]

Dr. Stoica: …Are you sure?

Lily: What?

[Dr. Stoica giggles]

Dr. Stoica: This is your last chance, Lily… are you sure you want to let me in?

[Lily snorts]

Lily: Yeah! Just come in and—

[End Log]