Inspired by and dedicated to HypnosiShannon

“You’re bored, aren’t you?” Vivi quietly asked her girlfriend, Shannon.

“Yep,” the adorable blonde woman whispered back to the dark skinned beauty beside her.

“I’m sorry. But I’m finding the tour fascinating.”

“Hm. I’m guessing you’re finding the tour guide more fascinating than the tour.”

Vivi giggled at Shannon’s accurate assessment.

“Well, she is a hottie,” Vivi said.

“Meh. She doesn’t do it for me,” Shannon said, wrinkling her small nose.

“Ah, no wonder you’re bored.”

This time, both women laughed.

“Was there a question in the back?” the hot (or not) tour guide asked, stopping and turning back to look over the small crowd that followed her.

Vivi and Shannon stifled their laughter and shook their heads when the guide’s gaze fell over them.

“Very well,” the guide said. “We’ll continue on then…”

The tour wound its way through the labyrinthine hallways of the Robotic Innovations building. Display cases highlighted examples of the company’s accomplishments, and large picture windows allowed for visibility into the less restricted laboratories.

As Vivi kept her attention firmly focused on the guide, Shannon wandered her eyes over the rest of the sights. She sighed with continued disinterest, and was about to again voice her displeasure to Vivi, when something caught her attention.

An attractive female staff member opened a door with a keycard and walked inside. The door swung closed behind her, but it didn’t shut all the way. Shannon could clearly see the light on the card reader remain green, rather than the red it should have reverted to when the door was locked.

In and of itself, the open door was only a minor curiosity. But it presented Shannon with at least a momentary distraction from the otherwise lackluster tour. However, once she noticed the sign beside the door, it elevated itself to something much more engaging.

The sign read, “Herpetological Research.” Herpetology was the study of reptiles, reptiles included snakes, and Shannon was nothing short of gaga over snakes. If Robotic Innovations was doing research on her favorite animal, then Shannon definitely wanted to know about it.

Without a word to anyone, Shannon steered herself over to the still ajar door. Thoughts that the lab might not actually have anything to do with snakes, that maybe she shouldn’t enter a secured area, and that she hadn’t said anything to Vivi about what she was doing didn’t enter into her mind. She reached the door, opened it, and slipped inside.

The first thing Shannon saw was the female staff member talking on her cellphone while sitting at a workstation that faced away from the door. A young woman of about Shannon’s age, she wore a long white lab coat over a blouse and jeans. Immersed as she was in her phone call, she didn’t notice that Shannon had entered the room.

Shannon began looking around the lab. On the back wall, she saw four doors, each with a different label. The first read, “Turtle.” The next read, “Lizard,” and the one after that, “Crocodile.” Shannon had just about given up hope when she finally saw what she wanted on the fourth door: “Snake.”

Almost blowing her cover with a joyful shout, Shannon remembered at the last instant that she was somewhere she shouldn’t be. She glanced back at the staffer, who remained engaged and oblivious to her presence. Then she observed the floor between where she stood and the snake room. It was made of industrial tile, and she figured that crossing it in hard-soled boots would not be the silent endeavor she needed it to be.

She had come this far, and the promise of seeing something cool relating to a snake in a robotics lab was too enticing to give up on. So with a balance and precision born of both natural grace and unabashed desire, she quietly pulled off her boots and set them down next to her on the floor. A quick assumption of how slippery the floor might be then prompted her to remove her socks, as well.

Now barefoot and fully committed to her folly, Shannon walked silently across the room to the awaiting door. Off to her side, the staffer continued with her conversation. Although Shannon wasn’t actively paying attention to it, parts of it registered in her mind.

“Yes, I do think we’re ready. We’ve run all the simulations we can. Everything checks out...How can we test it on a live person? Who could we get to volunteer?...Okay, okay, I’ll try to find someone…”

Now at the door, Shannon tried the knob and found it unlocked. She turned it, pushed the door open, and walked inside. Ceiling-mounted fluorescent lights flickered on automatically. Under their sudden illumination, Shannon saw a large worktable in the center of the room. The object on the table made her gasp in awe.

A large mechanical snake sat coiled upon the tabletop. From the size of its head and the thickness of its body, Shannon guessed it was upwards of 30 feet long. Red, pink, and gold scales covered it entirely, glittering under the overhead lights.

As she stared at it in utter fascination, it lifted its head and trained its gaze on her. Its eyes glowed a mellow gold, and its light pink tongue flicked in and out from its mouth. Shannon couldn’t believe how lifelike it was and how realistically it moved. Only the metallic sheen of its scales and the faint whirring of internal servos gave away its artificiality.

“What a beautiful beast you are,” Shannon said to it. “I could stare at you all day.”

The snake uncoiled its upper body and moved its head closer to Shannon. She smiled and took a few steps towards it. They both stopped with their faces mere inches from one another. Then, the snake’s eyes began to glow brighter. Shannon wondered what caused them to do that. She peered more closely at them, trying to figure it out. As she did, she saw something strange:

Ever expanding and repeating concentric circles of red, pink, and gold appeared within the snake’s eyes. Initially, Shannon’s curiosity kept her staring at them. But within seconds, she found herself neither able, nor wanting to look away. They filled her vision until she could see nothing else. Soon, they were all she could think of, as well. Her mind went blank. Her will drained away. A pleasant sleepiness descended over her, along with a desire to do whatever she was told.

~~~~~~~~~

In the other room, the staffer ended her call and put her phone into her coat pocket. The conversation hadn’t gone well, and she shook her head unhappily. That was when she saw the light coming from the snake room. Quickly forgetting the call, she tried to remember leaving the light on.

Not remembering it--because she hadn’t done so--she turned around to face the lab. She noticed then that the door to the hallway was ajar, and right inside it lay a pair of discarded boots and socks. Putting together the puzzle pieces in her head, she turned her attention back to the snake room. Not only was the light on, but something was happening in there.

“The snake!” she exclaimed, as she jumped out of the chair and ran to investigate.

Reaching the doorway, she stopped in her tracks and gaped at what she saw.

Shannon hung more than a foot off of the ground, her torso wrapped loosely but firmly within several metallic coils. She swayed slightly back and forth, her eyes transfixed by the those of the snake that held her and reflecting back a smaller, muted image of the concentric circles that had hypnotized her.

The staffer sputtered and stammered in complete shock. She reached into her pocket and fumbled for her phone. With great effort, she shakily removed it and dialed a number. Putting it to her ear, she listened to the buzzing on the other end of the line and waited for the person to pick up.

“Yes, what is it?” she finally heard.

“What it is?” she repeated. “I’ll tell you what it is. It’s news. Good news. Great news! I found a volunteer. I’m running a test right now. So far, it looks like the simulations were accurate. It’s working. It’s a success! I’ll call you back when it’s done. Bye.”

Without waiting for a reply, she hung up. Excitedly, but more in control now, she put the phone back in her pocket. Then she withdrew a pair of tinted glasses from her other pocket and put them on. She took a deep breath to further calm herself and then walked forward into the room.

Stopping this time beside the snake, she looked up at the pretty young barefoot woman.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

Shannon slowly and sleepily gave her name.

“Are you here with anyone?”

“Yes...”

“Who?”

“My girlfriend...Vivi…”

“Where is she?”

“Outside...with the tour…”

“What does she look like?”

Shannon described Vivi. The staffer nodded at the description, thinking it would not be difficult to find the woman. Then she would have two “volunteers” for her tests.

“You’re going to sleep now,” she said to Shannon. “You will remain that way until I wake you.”


With a wavering sigh, Shannon closed her eyes and slumped forward within the snake’s coiled grasp. The staffer touched the snake, which turned to face her. Through her glasses, she could see its glowing eyes but not the hypnotic patterns within them.

“Set her down gently on the floor. Then return to your rest mode.”

The snake did as instructed, placing Shannon in a seated position on the floor, propped against a wall with her legs stretched out in front of her. The staffer nodded again, then turned and left the room.

~~~~~~~~~

“Where is she? Is she okay? I’ve been looking all over for her?”

Vivi clutched the staff woman’s arm, concerned but hopeful about where Shannon was and what had happened to her.

“She’s fine,” the staffer said. “She got lost, but luckily we ran into each other. I took her to my lab and suggested she wait there while I went to find you. Come on, I’ll take you to her.”

Too relieved to be suspicious, Vivi bought the story and followed the staffer to the reptile lab. Once inside, the staffer led her to the snake room. Vivi entered it, her eyes immediately falling upon the gigantic serpent on the worktable.

“Whoa!” she said, amazed by the robot, much as Shannon had been. “That is gorgeous. It looks so real. Does it move?”

“Oh, yes,” the staffer said. “It’s designed to move and act just like a snake. We’re running our final tests on it now. We call it CybernetiKaa.”

“That’s a nod to the Disney snake from the cartoons, right?” Vivi asked with a knowing smile. “I just hope it doesn’t have the same ability to--Shannon!”

Having just spotted Shannon, who was slumped against the wall off to the side of the room, Vivi cut herself off mid-thought and raced over to her girlfriend. She surveyed the sleeping blonde woman and saw no cuts or trauma. But shaking Shannon’s limp form to rouse her while calling her name elicited no response.

“Shannon. Wake up, babe. Shannon. Shannon! What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s fine,” the staffer repeated. “She’ll wake up when she’s ready to...or rather when I’m ready for her, too.”

Still trying to coax Shannon awake, Vivi was leaned fully over, with all of her weight on her knees and the heels of her feet separated from her slip-on shoes. The staffer’s ominously cryptic words only half registered with her. And she remained completely oblivious to the uncoiling snake tail that sinuated in her direction.

It took a moment for the tail to reach her. Then, in a flash, it wrapped around her midriff and pulled up hard. Whisked right off the ground and out of her shoes, Vivi gasped in surprise and fear. She then found herself turned round and round, as the snake wrapped itself around her and pinned her arms to her sides.

The staffer smiled, as she watched the bound and barefoot young woman hanging in the air before her. Vivi kicked and squirmed to no avail.

“Let me go!” she cried.

“Relax, sweetie. You'll be fine...just like your girlfriend is.”

As the staffer spoke, CybernetiKaa moved its head forward so that it hovered just before Vivi’s face. The immobilized woman could do nothing to get away from it. With a double flick of its metal tongue, the robot’s golden eyes began to glow.

“What the--” Vivi said, as she saw ever-moving, multi-colored concentric circles form within the snake’s eyes.

At first she stared at them because they startled her. But all too soon, she stared because she couldn’t look away. Then, like Shannon before her, she found she didn’t want to look away. The fear melted from her mind, along with all her thoughts and will. Contentedly drowsy now, she wanted nothing but to dwell within those blissful reptilian eyes and obey, obey, obey.

Gently touching CybernetiKaa, the staffer instructed the snake to carefully place Vivi next to Shannon on the floor. It did as instructed. She approached the entranced women and knelt down in front of them. Then she gave Vivi the same command to sleep that she had previously given Shannon. When Vivi’s eyes closed in slumber, the staffer took out her phone.

“It’s me...Yes, the test is going well. I actually have two volunteers...Well, it just kind of worked out. Anyway, the induction worked perfectly. No resistance at all from the subjects. And so far, they’re completely obedient. Now, it’s time to brainwash them...Yes, I’ll report back when I have final results...Okay. Bye.”

Putting away the phone, the staffer returned her attention to Shannon and Vivi. Then she told CybernetiKaa to move in close to them, which it did.

“Wake up, ladies,” she said.

The young women opened their eyes and found themselves staring directly into those of the snake. The glowing, colorful patterns within the orbs instantly enthralled them, and before they knew it, they were once again completely and happily hypnotized.

The staffer waited for another minute, ensuring that her “volunteers” were fully under. Watching the reflected patterns in their eyes and noting the dreamy grins on their faces, she determined they were as ready and receptive as they were going to be.

“All right, ladies,” she said. “There is something I need you to do for me….”

~~~~~~~~~

In the car ride home a little while later, Shannon and Vivi talked cheerfully about the Robotic Innovations tour. Neither one mentioned being bored by it, nor that they had somehow lost their shoes and socks along the way.

“And wasn’t that robotic snake the best?” Shannon asked gleefully.

“So cool!” Vivi concurred. “And you know, that nice lady said we could come back, and she’d give us a private tour of her lab.”

“Right, and she said we could bring friends.”

“I bet Marina would love to see it. The snake would freak her out at first, but then she’d be totally into it. Kelli, too.”

“Yeah, and Bethany. And Crystal. And Rani, and Jess, and Amanda. I’m going to start calling them right now and get things setup.”

Despite being excited to share their experience with all of their friends, the two young women actually remembered none of it. In their minds, they were fully in control of their thoughts and actions. But in reality, they merely continued to obey, obey, obey….