Content Warnings
- CNC
- hypnosis
- threat of coercive use of mind control
- faux-incest implication
Keea’s eyes shot open. Immediately, she winced with regret as bright light poured into her vision. As the canine squinted and waited for her eyes to adjust, several other sensations came to her attention. First was the scent: the damp musk of a basement or warehouse, the hallmark of a forgotten space.
Next was the sensation of cold, hard metal underneath where she was sitting. Taking stock of the position of her body, she was clearly seated on a metal folding chair—a particularly uncomfortable one at that. But the feeling of cold metal wasn’t limited to her back and thighs; she felt the same distinctive chill wrapping uncomfortably tight around her entire body.
Once her eyes had finally adjusted, the first thing she did was look down to confirm her suspicions: chains, wrapping all the way around her body. The akita traced the links up her moderately stout frame. Starting at the cream and browns of her lower legs, the cold steel ran up to her thighs, squeezing a pair of casual exercise shorts to them snugly. Pressing lightly around the pudge of her midsection, they continued upward, wrapping a simple white t-shirt tight to her torso. Strangely, instead of simply wrapping her chest, each breast was carefully framed in an almost harness-like pattern. Whoever had done this had been extremely intentional about the placement of each section, and certainly didn’t seem to have been in any kind of hurry.
Looking up revealed… nothing. The dog found herself surrounded by blackness, with only the blinding glare of a light overhead. She knew she must be inside, but anything beyond that was a mystery. Panic began to creep into her mind. It was almost stereotypical in how much it reminded her of a scene from a thriller. And how did those scenes usually end? Shivering, she tried to put the grim images out of her mind. For the moment she seemed to be alone. She had to figure out a plan. She had to calm down and start thinking about how-
A startled yip escaped her mouth as a dim strip of magenta light flicked to life. It didn’t take even a second for her to recognize it. She had seen the visor so many times on news reports and social media clips. And as the dimly-lit goggles slowly grew closer and the shape of a body emerged into the light, Keea could only slip further into terror as she realized exactly what kind of danger she was in.
Keea was trapped, sitting chained up, with no hope of escape, in front of a member of the fucking Korps.
The Canadian supervillain organization would be the stuff of legends if not for the fact that they became very real whenever the latest news report of a major heist or superpowered fight would hit the air. Every government, military organization, and especially Hero group had contingencies designed specifically to fend off the Korps. Countless supers formed their rank, but also notably the un-powered, going toe-to-toe with Heroes with only uncanny technology and inexplicable body enhancements. With local and national hero groups warning that activity from the villains had been increasing in the U.S., it seemed like they meant to make good on their promise to take over the world.
But none of those reports had bothered Keea as much as the most terrifying ones: that Heroes, supers, and sometimes even everyday citizens would simply vanish, turning up only months later with the signature magenta-pink visor, their bodies changed beyond recognition, dressed in outfits only one step removed from those you’d find in fetish magazines. By that point rationalizing with the victims was pointless: they would fight with everything they had, tooth and claw, to the death, for their new masters. Worse still were the drones: the mindless obedient automatons that were once people with lives, reduced only to soldiers for combat. The only thing that separated an everyday, law-abiding citizen from becoming one of them was those goggles: the very same ones worn by the figure that had just stepped out of the shadow.
Wreathed in the sharp contrasting light of the lamp above, Keea could now more clearly see the villain that had stepped forward. The short, androgynous hare continued their slow stride towards the bound canine, a grin dripping with such malice that it seemed almost out of place played out across their soft, round face. Wrapped tightly around their lithe, twinkish frame was a semi-reflective bodysuit in black and dark gray, with the only color coming in the form of a bright magenta helix laid across their torso, framing and drawing attention to a modest pair of breasts. It was exactly like the sexually-charged villain organization to make even their full-body wear draw such attention to the chest.
Seated as she was—and as short as her captor was—Keea got a close look at the face of the hare. The magenta glow of the visor reflected dimly off the light brown fur flecked with black that patterned their face, hiding the true color of eyes that might otherwise seem soft and kind. But behind those soft eyes was a piercing, sadistic fire, as if Keea were looking into the eyes of a demon. Buck teeth glinted in the light as the hare let out a low, smooth, chuckle.
“Morning puppy! Glad you’re finally awake!” the hare began, their tone syrup-saccharine and their voice a flamboyant tenor. “Sleep well? Comfy? Wouldn’t want you to be distracted for what comes next.”
Keea’s mind was running too fast to form a coherent response. “I… wh…”
The hare did not seem particularly bothered by her stuttering and simply continued, beginning to walk an unhurried circle around their captive. “Not that it matters! You know we have ways of making you focus. Look, I know you’re not dumb puppy. You know what this is.”
She did, in fact, know exactly what this was. “Wait! Wait wait wait,” the dog floundered, looking for any way to buy time. “You don’t have to do this. We can talk. We can just talk.” She pleaded silently to the gods that her words had come off as rational and not desperate.
The hare for their part simply laughed. “Alright, sure! Let’s talk puppy! I can at least grant you that one!” The sadistic cheer never left their voice. “Let’s talk about what I’m gonna do to you.” By this point the hare had finished their circle and with the added flourish of a quick spin, brought their face within a foot of the canine’s. The subtle smell of vegetal, subtly sweet musk that wafted off their fur was distracting enough for the poor dog; but it wasn’t long before the rabbit’s words pulled her attention taut again.
Reaching their paw into a pocket on their waist, the hare fished out the translucent magenta frames, and, unfolding them with a flick, dangled them lightly from one finger, right in between their (dangerously close) faces. “First: we’re gonna put these bad boys on you and next: you’re gonna be one of us. And you’re going to love every single blissful little second of it. Any questions?”
“Several.”
“Shoot.”
“Please don’t?”
“Not a question.”
Worth a shot.
Swallowing her fear and taking a moment to reset, the akita could finally eke out her first real question: “Why? Why… me?”
“Pffft, it’s nothing personal! We need fresh minds to twist to our ends, and you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Aren’t you lucky?”
She was stunned into silence for a moment. Was this a game to these people? Was her her identity, her personhood just a toy? Fear began to give way to frustration at how flippant the villain was being about the future of her free will. “Lucky!?” she spat incredulously, “What exactly about being dragged into your fucked up freak show makes me so damn lucky?”
“I think you already know the answer to that one as well.” Their voice had become a quiet, breathy taunt. “Because you can already imagine just how fucking good it feels. Because you already think about it all the time in that messed up little head of yours.” As if to bring the point home, they had gently but irritatingly knocked on the top of her head.
Keea’s ears instinctively flattened back against her head as she winced. How could they have possibly known that about her? The dog wasn’t one to talk openly about her little obsession, and had been careful to the point of paranoia about guarding her search history. What had the villain been able to figure out about her thoughts, daydreams, her darkest, most secret desires? She had to figure out how to regain control of the situation, how to find a way out, and especially how to avoid dwelling on the feeling of warmth that was building in her chest.
“No… No!” she punctuated her outburst with a snarl. “It’s not that easy. I’m not that easy! I’m not just going to roll over and let you… change me! I have a life, I have a self!”
“Not for long” the hare taunted in their grating saccharine.
How did they manage to be so effortlessly disarming? Keea took a deep breath and attempted to re-center herself. Okay, how about bartering? Build common ground. Pull on their empathy. “Look, I can make myself useful, I can help, I just… Look. I’m like you! I’m uhhhh…” She wasn’t sure why she hesitated there. “I’m queer too. Just let me help you, give you info, whatever it is just… not the glasses. Please.” So much for trying not to sound desperate.
Somehow her appeal left her captor absolutely tickled. The hare left out a deep chuckle that had soon escalated into a maniacal guffaw, a laugh that Keea was sure would have been textbook villainy had villainy used textbooks. “Ohhh. Oh. Keea.” The hare had backed away from her just a bit, their face no longer quite so close as they wiped away a tear. “Honey no, we’re villains! Do you think this is a recruitment drive for what, a charity fundraiser? Put up some fliers? Pitch in where you can?” The rabbit gave a heavy sigh, releasing the last of the humor from their demeanor. “Oh puppy, we don’t want your participation”.
They walked to the side of the chair and before Keea could turn her head to follow, the hare suddenly thrust their head toward hers until their mouth was inches from the canine’s ear, eliciting a startled flinch in response. “No. Participation isn’t enough, not by a long shot. We want you, Keea. All of you. Your mind, your body, your belief and devotion, your sense of self. We want it for the cause, for the Overlord, for the Korps. And we’re going to get it.”
She couldn’t hide the wave of shivers that ran down her body, and this time, there was no attempt to ignore the heat welling in her chest. There was no attempt to do anything in that moment; what could she possibly do in a situation like this? The canine began to breathe heavier, faster. She could feel her pulse quickening. The heat in her chest rose to her face and the tips of her ears, tinting them both with the red of a blush. Her eyes widened and her pupils began to shrink. Worst of all, in a complete betrayal of whatever composure she expected to have at this, the end of her personhood: her tail wagged furiously behind her.
“Well, someone’s excited. Remind me to not to let you go into subterfuge work once we blank that brain of yours.” The hare was enjoying themselves far too much. The latest little quip broke the dog’s reverie for just long enough to bring her mind back to the act of resisting. She began pulling against the chains that bound her, frantically looking for any weakness, anything she could break or slip out of. Her captor noticed instantly.
“Woah, there puppy! Enough of that.” They stepped back to her front. “Let’s just get this show on the road, hm? It almost feels cruel to make you wait after how good you’ve been.” With each side of the glasses held in their paws, they inched the visor towards her face.
“No! No no no no no no-” she was begging. Tears had filled her vision. This was it, this was the end of her life, the end of her consciousness, her free will. She had regrets. She wasn’t ready. Keea tensed and thrashed as hard as she could against the restraints, managing only to uselessly scrape the chair along the ground as the magenta visor found purchase around the side of her head, and the hare’s paws took the round ear pieces and shoved them forcefully into her ears.
The flash of startup text was barely visible through her tears. It wouldn’t be long before it was inside her head, managing her thoughts, molding her into-
“Wait. Yellow.”
The interruption from the rabbit caught Keea by surprise. With it, the lights in the room had flipped back on: just dimly, enough to see the stark white walls surrounding them, subtle lines tracing the edges of hidden compartments. Blinking away tears, she let out a hearty cough to clear her throat from the buildup that had resulted from her sobbing. “Oh. Uhhh right. Shit. Everything ok, Kicks?” Punctuated by a sniffle, her composure had settled to a calm, if slightly concerned, curiosity.
“Yeah. Yeah! I’m good! I just…” Kicks scrunched their face, eyes darting back and forth as if reading their own thoughts from the empty air in front of them. As they spoke they began nervously bouncing their leg. “I just realized we didn’t discuss the fucking chains. You were struggling awfully hard there, and I know I got your consent to restrain you, but I forgot to talk about how. I wanted to make sure you’re okay with uh… the chains. Not too uncomfortable?”
“Oh.” The dog blinked, than offered a sheepish smile. “Oh that’s fine, that was just for effect! I’m… I’m really enjoying myself.” She darted her eyes to the side at that last part, the blush returning to her face.
“And you’ll let me know if you’re ever not enjoying it?” the hare fretted.
“Yes, I promise I’ll tell you,” the canine assured them with just a hint of exasperation. “Plus it’ll be easier now that I have these back on.” She gave a light flick of her head as a way of gesturing to the magenta goggles that had just been placed forcefully on her head.
“Like we talked about earlier, I’ll be keeping an eye on things and will let you know if you need to stop.”
“See? Nothing to worry about. ROSE has us covered!”
The comforting voice wasn’t spoken out loud, but it was heard by the both of them as the words simply appeared in their minds. Keea had to admit, that part had taken some getting used to. The sleek Rose Colored Glasses that now adorned her head enabled the dog to communicate with just her thoughts—among dozens of other features ranging from helping keep those thoughts organized, interfacing with on-base technology, and managing the logistics of her life and schedule. Most important of these features, however, was access to ROSE: the well-beloved Korps AI was a comforting presence, dear friend, and absolutely indispensable ally to all who had called the underground base home.
“Alright, if you both say so.” With their own clearing of the throat, the lights flicked back off, returning the pair to the middle of the surrounding darkness. “Now. Where were we?” The sinister edge had re-entered the rabbit’s voice. “I believe we were just about ready to break that will for good.”
This time Keea was the one to laugh; the stark change in her scene partner’s demeanor was just too much. “Sorry! Sorry. All good. I just need to calm down and-”
A sharp snap rang from the hare’s fingers and all at once the sturdy foundations of her consciousness began to crumble. A surprised gasp escaped from her mouth as immediately every muscle in her body began to relax. Her senses were swimming, distorted and dancing like the reflections on the bottom of a pool. She could feel her thoughts slow down, and shifted every ounce of focus she had into keeping her train of thought from completely derailing. With horror, far too suddenly for her to properly build her defenses, she realized it: The visor was inside her head, manipulating her. Worst of all, the heat had returned even stronger, building in her chest, radiating up to her face, radiating down and welling in her…
No. Absolutely not. She would fight it.
“Aww, what’s wrong puppy? Not ready for that one? Did the villain not play fair?” The hare’s voice carried an ethereal echo now as their words hammered their way into her mind, the relentless assault battering her resistance even further. “I’m surprised you’re still resisting. That’s okay though: the harder you fight it, the better it’ll be when you finally let go. We’ve got all night puppy.”
Fuck. She knew she couldn’t hold out forever, but she certainly wasn’t going to fold so easily. Baring her teeth into what she hoped was a fierce snarl, the canine let out a low growl. “Not that fuckin’ easy Energizer Bunny. Gonna have to try harder than that.”
The villain chuckled, and as if on cue, resumed their lazy pace around the chair. Keeping their head low, they cooed softly into her ear, dragging that voice of warped seduction until she could no longer identify what direction it was truly coming from. “Don’t worry pup, we’re just getting started. When I said all night I meant it. It’s much more fun to take it slow.”
The desync between her eyes and ears was immediately irritating. Keea screwed her eyes shut in an desperate attempt just to focus. It didn’t take her long to realize this was a mistake as the absence of vision let every other sensation become just that much more vivid. “Oh? Is it any better with those eyes closed? Easier to focus on what I’m saying?” The soft fur of a digit travelled down her cheek, sending a shiver up her spine. “Easier to focus on how it feels?” Her eyes shot back open, but something was… wrong. Color had faded out, replaced with a surreal pink hue, and light took on a dreamy, nostalgic blur and bloom. And there was motion where there shouldn’t be, waves rippling through space in her peripheral vision, but maddeningly elusive as she chased them with her eyes. Worst of all, the moment her eyes had shot back open, she was greeted by a lapine face right in front of her, staring straight into her eyes, smile stretched wide with vicious, sadistic, glee.
“You know what my favorite part of this job is, pup? It’s this right here. It’s the gentle whittling away of that spirit, shaving off layer after layer of that resistance until there’s nothing left but your smooth, unprotected mind, perfect for shaping, programming, molding into the perfect little soldier. It’s watching the fight slowly leave those eyes as they grow more and more tired, that cute look of surrender that begins to show on especially cute faces like yours.”
They… think I’m cute? Are they flirting with me?
No no no no no, focus… Resist. Do something.
The assault on her senses was taking its toll. The dog could feel her eyelids dropping ever so slightly with the rabbit’s words, and, noticing the warning sign, she tried to find some hidden reserve of energy with which to steel her resolve. The canine scrunched her face into a snarl, hoping that the expression would throw the hare off the scent of what was happening.
It did not. “There we go. It’s already begun.” Satisfied, the lapine stepped behind the chair to get their mouth right against Keea’s left ear. She felt the soft press of their dewlap against the back of her neck and their breath, hot and heavy. “And for the record I was so right about how cute that face would be. Can’t wait to see just how cute the rest is.”
Oh god they’re definitely flirting with me. A small part of her began to panic for an entirely new, different reason. Her breathing quickened automatically, focus too divided to keep it under control, even as she knew the message it would send.
“Oh, puppy! Keep going like that and you’ll be panting by the time I’m done with you.”
What was intended as a growl came out as a whimper. She cursed silently to herself.
As if the overwhelming sensations weren’t already enough, Keea felt soft paw pads grip at her shoulders. Her perception of sensitivity, too, was being fucked with; as the hare delicately worked circles around her upper back she had to fully suppress a moan from escaping her lips. Her eyes rolled back into her head before she managed to catch herself, scrunching her face together as she tried to hold it together.
“See how nice that feels? It feels even better when you surrender. We both know you’ve been dreaming of this for years, to be corrupted, molded into an object of service. Turned into a proud fucking freak just like us. But here you are fighting it! You could have everything you’ve ever dreamed of, Keea. You could know the bliss of service. You can let go of the shame that holds you back. Simply let go and I will show you the way.”
Nothing they were saying was untrue. She had dreamed of this, shamefully and desperately letting the idea bring her to orgasm time after time after time. She had admired the villains. They were fearless, boldly themselves in a world that sought to eradicate deviance from the norm. Some days, when she was ground down by the ceaseless drone of hours spent at work pretending to be normal, when she’d come home and see the latest news of how her government hated people like her, despite doing everything right, it was all she could do not to break down and start smashing things. But she was a responsible person. These were villains, criminals. Keea had built her life around always trying to do the right thing. She knew it was shameful. She couldn’t just start ignoring societal norm or rule of law because it had hurt people. Because it had hurt her.
… Could she? Responsibility and correctness were all she knew. But it weighed on her like an anchor. She wished so desperately she knew how to let it go, how to ignore what the world thought of her and strike out a path for herself. The villains had something to fight for, a cause. Could she belong there? Could she be a part of that? Could she accept not just the simple bliss of service, but the satisfaction of deeper purpose? She wanted… no. It was need that she felt in her soul. To abandon the control of society, to choose willingly to give up that control to something worthy, something that would see her flourish and that she in turn would give herself to. But she just didn’t know how to let go…
All her resistance was dedicated to just thinking; so much so that she didn’t even notice her mouth had dropped open, nor the slow, heavy pant that spilled out of it. She continued to not notice until the hare stepped forward, delicately lifting a digit, and placing it squarely inside her fucking mouth. She was reeling now, and could only manage what her instinct demanded: she closed her maw and began to suck.
“Oh puppy.” Their breath was hot and heavy, their voice dripping in desire. “I know how hard this is. I tried to fight it at first, too. And now here I am, the unrepentant, brainwashed freak getting off on the act of dragging you down with me.” They brought their nose to hers, their own expression reflecting that very same tinge of need. “Take a good look at me, puppy, because that’s how this ends. We’re going to turn you into a freak, Keea. So just. Let. Go.”
P-please.
Please…
She couldn’t resist any longer. It was simply too much. She was so tired. She was so tired and she couldn’t take it anymore. Her soul ached for the sweet release of submission. She couldn’t even remember why she was fighting. She could let go. She could let go and it would feel so good, so perfect, so right.
So she let go.
Her body slackened. The breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding rushed out of her mouth with a moan. Her eyes rolling back into her head. Every thought left at once. Her body was bathed in pleasure: a warmth, evolving into heat, evolving into raw, shameless need. In that split second she became a vessel to be filled.
And she would be filled. “There we are.” The finger delicately slipped free from her maw. It was only her and the words now. “Isn’t that so much better, puppy? All that fight just to delay this wonderful bliss. Letting go was the only real choice, wasn’t it? There was only ever one will: ours. You’re finally listening with your full mind. Finally ready to take these words and let them shape you. Good. Let’s begin, shall we?”
Despite the chains around her body and mind, for the first time in her life, Keea felt truly free.
The pair simply sat there for minutes, the hare’s head resting on her thigh as they both caught their breaths and recovered the ability to think straight. Eventually Kicks stood up with a wobble, and on cue the lights gently brightened to reveal the rest of the room again. Distantly in her hazy awareness, Keea could hear the quiet rushing of fans as the scent of musty warehouse abated. It was impressive how much effort went into the villain schtick---scent engineering certainly wasn’t high on her list of things she expected the villains to dedicate themselves to. Trudging with great effort to the wall, they pressed into one of the panels, revealing a compartment from which they pulled out a bed roll. Tossing it to the center of the room, the roll immediately began to inflate on its own, uncurling into the soft surface of an air mattress.
Undoing the padlock that had kept the dog chained to the chair over the past hour, the hare tossed the first of the lengths of chain off her body, and the rest of the coils easily sloughed off Keea’s body and down onto the floor. Walking back to the front of the chair, they held out two paws which Keea grabbed thankfully, and with a herculean pull in no shortage of groaning on the dog’s part, yanked her off the chair and down into the newly inflated cushion beside them. Their final task complete, Kicks crumpled onto the mat beside her.
“So.”
“So,” the hare gave a contented sigh. “Have fun?”
“Holy fuck.” A beat passed. “I don’t even know if I can think straight right now.”
“Sorry, no straight thinking allowed. Flushed it all out, you have to think gay now.” Even collapsed into a puddle, the hare simply could not let the joke go unsaid.
“Right, sorry, let me try that again: Rahh, I’m so Gay and Transgender now, Hail the Overlord or whatever.” Her snark earned a huff out of the rabbit.
“Honestly though, this whole thing has been just so surreal. Like you get how weird this is, right? We’re deep underground in a fucking evil lair, which apparently includes ready-to-go kink roleplay rooms, and a wanted career criminal just slapped a visor on me and pretended to microwave my brain.”
They chuckled. “Wow, Is that what you think of me sis? A career criminal? I mean you’re not wrong, but you make it sound so exciting!” Keea couldn’t help but offer an affectionate grin.
“First of all, it is exciting. You literally do kickflips and punch people in the face. I’ve seen it. It’s rad as fuck.” She punctuated the remark with a sigh.
“Secondly: you know this was like, my biggest fear growing up?” Kicks raised an eyebrow, causing Keea to hesitate for just a moment. “No, seriously. I was sooooo afraid that someone ‘bad’ would come around and… and change me. Make me into someone else, someone I’m not. And here I am, in the belly of the beast, having just fucking… ERPed it with you I guess?”
“Do you wanna be someone else?”
Keea winced slightly at the bluntness of the question, the grin struck from her face. As much as she wanted to reflexively say “no”, she felt that after the intimacy of the past hour, they were owed honesty at the very least. “Sometimes. When I look at myself I can’t help but notice all my flaws. It’s easier to imagine changing all the things you hate when someone shows up with a pair of magic brainwashing goggles.”
“Mmm. I mean, for what it’s worth the RCGs don’t magically fix you. Like don’t get me wrong, you’ve seen first hand how they can help with a lot of brain stuff but…” Kicks trailed off, seeming to lose their train of thought. “And seriously though. I’m sure this sounds weird to say but like. I’m proud of you. I know it isn’t always easy to be here, in a place so different. Or to admit that this stuff scares you.” And then they sighed. “And to let someone get close enough to you to work through that, even if it was just kinky fuckin’ roleplay.”
The genuine compliment brought a smile to the dog’s face. It wasn’t long ago that she’d reflexively dismiss any compliment as unearned flattery. But that was one regard in which she was improving: the ability to believe others were being genuine. It felt good, and she was finally learning how to let herself feel it.
“But you know,” Kicks began wistfully, “it doesn’t have to be roleplay. We could always just do the real thing sometime? Get you wired into the hive for a bit? I’ve heard good things.”
Keea hesitated. While she had come to put a lot of trust in the villains over her time working with them, something about the concept of the drones still just… bothered her. “I… I’ll think about it? I don’t think I’m… ready yet.”
“Sure, yeah! You don’t gotta if you don’t want to of course! Buuuuut… if that last display was any kind of indication you look real good with your agency in shambles.”
The canine could only reply with an irritated snort. The rabbit cackled with glee.
“Hey. Can I be real for a sec? Thank you for doing this. Seriously.”
“Believe me, it was my pleasure! You should give yourself more credit hun, you make a cute sub. And that’s not easy either. You have no idea how many folks I’ve played with that just… don’t sell the hits? Or are just silent the whole time. It works for some doms I guess but… I really enjoyed getting to hear you squeal, and I don’t mean that in the teasing way for once.”
Keea resisted the urge to feel self-concious about the unusual but clearly genuine compliment. “Hey, I think you deserve most of the credit here! Congratulations: you successfully turned me into a freak.”
“The fuck we did! You were there when we negotiated the scene. You literally asked me to pretend to corrupt you into a mindless evil hench. Got some news for you puppy: you were already a freak. Not much for us to corrupt after all that!”
The dog gave a dismissive snort, but said nothing. She had spent a moment trying to come up with a retort, but after a few seconds of awkward silence it had dawned on her that the rabbit was right. Nobody had dragged her down here, or forced her into that chair, or done anything she didn’t already desperately---if ashamedly---want. She found the words after a few more moments as a soft smile appeared across her face. “Christ. We are incorrigible.”
“Hehe, inkorpsigible.” The bunny gave another stupid laugh as the exhaustion really began to set in. “And… that’s the first time you’ve said ‘we’.”
“Yeah well what can I say? You did just brainwash me for an hour. Guess I’m feeling the spirit.”
Neither had much more to say after that. They would lay there for a good long time, relaxing into the comfortable embrace, until eventually, a gentle prompt from their RCGs would send each one on their way home.
Hector slowly came to, his head throbbing and full of pressure. The unmistakable stinging on his neck left him with no doubt that he had been choked out moments before. He opened his eyes slowly and tentatively, wincing only slightly as the light from overhead poured into his eyes.
The dhole tried to pull a hand up to massage his temples, but immediately found the unwelcome restraint of rough manila rope digging in to his fur. Save for the light above, the room was dark. He could make out the dim shapes of shelving and crates, a concrete floor, and not much else.
Hector’s training and work at Bradley Group’s regional operations center left him with little doubt as to what came next. He had heard the stories, fielded reports about those who had simply vanished without a trace. So he was not surprised in the slightest to see the dim flick of a magenta visor stride towards him. The lack of surprise did little to settle the twisting, aching pit of dread that was building in his stomach.
“Morning Hector. Glad you’re finally awake.” The short, androgynous hare stepped out of the darkness. A look of haughty self satisfaction played on their round face, but Hector knew how to read people far too well after years of dealing with bravado of Heroes and the Newspeak of the higher ups: the hare was covering up for reluctance.
“So it’s finally time.” Hector found his mouth dry as the words seemed to spill out of his mouth on autopilot. “Finally my turn”. He was tired. Numb. He felt numb a lot lately.
“We want what you know. You won’t give it willingly. So we’re taking it.” The hare’s tone was matter-of-fact as they began walking an unhurried circle around their captive. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but that’s all we’re doing.”
There was silence for a few moments. Hector didn’t buy the act for even a second. The Korps wanted one thing: more bodies for their army. And here he was, their latest victim. The realization should have terrified him. He knew he should be panicking, that he should yell and fight and scream, rally all his courage and fight with his dying breath to not become the freak that they would make him into.
But when he looked past the twisting knots of his stomach, past the knowledge of what the villains did with their captives, he was left only with numbness. He knew he would never see his old life ever again. But what kind of life was it exactly, alone in the rundown apartment he could afford with his meager public servant wages? He had been tired for so long now. This was just another in a long line of kicks to the stomach life had for him.
A desperate, dangerous thought came to his mind before he could suppress it, and he spoke before the shame could forcefully evict it from his head. “I know what this is. I just…” he trailed off, his voice growing weaker as the insanity of what he was saying caught up to him. “I have a request.”
“Shoot.” The hare had finished their lap and stood stock still, just a foot in front of their captive, trying their best to not let the displeasure split through their mask of impassiveness.
“Can I be happy this time? In this new life?” Tears had formed in the dhole’s eyes. His face scrunched, trying to contain them, trying to blink them away, but it was too late as the floodgates opened and a quiet sob tore out of his mouth.
Taking a deep breath, the hare’s expression finally cracked. With a sad smile and the glimmer of tears beginning to form in their own eyes, the hare raised the magenta glasses to the dhole’s face, gently pushing the ear buds in.
Acknowledgements
The Korps universe as a whole and ROSE belong to Karen, who you can find on Bluesky @korpspropaganda.bsky.social.
Thank you to my wonderful partner Felix for coming up with Kick’s scent description.