"Do you understand now?" I asked.

"Nope, I still don't get it," she said.

She sat on the couch, with her legs stretched out on the ottoman and her bare feet crossed at the ankles. After shaking her head in punctuation of her reply, she finger-combed several errant blonde locks off of her face. Now unobstructed, her bright brown eyes found mine.

I met her gaze and thought about her response to my explanation. When she looked away after a few seconds, I let myself take in the whole sight of her again. She had long, wavy hair that was just shy of wild. Her face held beauty mixed with a touch of quirkiness, while her toned body and natural curves pushed delightfully against her T-shirt and cut-off shorts.

"Let's take it step by step from the beginning," I said.

"Sounds good," she said.

"It started with eye fixation."

"Okay."

"Then it moved onto concentration."

"Right."

"Which led to relaxation."

"Uh-huh."

"And from there, a trance state."

"A trance state?" she asked, confusion furrowing her brow.

"Yes, a state of consciousness resembling sleep," I said, "and exemplified by a high level of suggestibility."

"Huh?"

"In other words, a state where a person would be open to any suggestions given to them."

"Okay."

"So, we have eye fixation leading to concentration leading to relaxation leading to a trance state of heightened suggestibility. Still with me?"

"Mm, yeah."

"The trance state allowed for implanted suggestions, including some to instill obedience, others to implant post-hypnotic triggers, and even more to dictate what was remembered and what was forgotten."

"Wait," she said. "I'm not sure I'm following."

"Basically, it comes down to brainwashing through hypnotic suggestion," I said. "I hypnotized you. Then I brainwashed you. I made you obey me, I gave you triggers that influenced how you behaved, and then I made you forget that I ever did it to you. Do you understand now?"

"Nope, I still don't get it," she said.

"Good," I said. "That's what I needed to make sure of."

She stared at me quizzically for a moment. Then I raised up my hand, snapped my fingers, and spoke:

"Hypnoslave."

All expression evaporated from her face. Her eyes widened but lost their focus. I nodded approvingly.

"Come to me, slave," I said.

She stood and raised her arms up in front of her. Then she walked slowly and deliberately over to me, uttering in a monotone drawl as she did:

"Yes...Master..."

Everything worked as it should. She understood and followed my suggestions perfectly, even the one that prevented her from understanding anything while she was awake. I was glad I had put her conditioning to the test. Now I would reap the benefits of my work.

I gave her another command, one that I knew only a brainwashed slave would obey. She knelt before me and began to carry it out.

"Yes...Master...."