She lounges on the couch. Her favorite show plays on TV, and she watches it contentedly.

Then a notification sounds on her phone. When she checks, she sees it's from Cyril. She opens his message and is greeted by an animated black and white spiral. It's standard fare as far as these kinds of graphics go, although she does notice that it is very hi-res and even 3-D. After a second or so, words fade in over the image: You are being hypnotized. They soon fade away, then the animation ceases, and then the spiral itself disappears.

What she doesn't notice while the graphic and text show on her phone is an accompanying rhythmic buzz. It slips subliminally past her conscious mind into the receptive depths of her subconscious.

"Ah, Cyril," she thinks with a mix of fondness and annoyance. "How typical of you."

On one hand, she gives Cyril credit for his perseverance and creativity in trying to satisfy his hypno/mc fetish. Because, in all reality, the animation was good, and it did draw in her gaze. But on the other hand, was there any chance that something that simple would actually hypnotize her? No, there really wasn't. And he should know that. Maybe he is a little too into his fetish. Maybe he should find some other hobby to occupy his time.

She puts her phone down in order to resume watching her show. When she looks back at the screen, for just a second she sees something weird: That same swirling spiral that Cyril sent her, with those same words--You are being hypnotized. Then images and words are gone, and there on the screen is the show she was watching.

What was that? She shakes her head as if to clear it. The motion helps, and she determines that she's just dwelling too much on Cyril and his kookiness.

At a commercial break, she gets up to grab a snack. She gets out a plate to stack some fresh cut veggies on. But when she glances at the plate's semi-reflective surface, she briefly sees that same image of the swirling spiral. This time, though, the words are a bit different: You have been hypnotized.

She blinks and finds herself staring at an empty plate. Now more unnerved, she tells herself again that this is all just her overactive imagination and perhaps Cyril's slightly contagious craziness. Yes, that's all it is. She fills her plate with veggies and returns to her show.

On the way back to the couch, she glances at a mirror on the wall. It's not something she normally looks at without a reason. But as it happens, it catches her attention just now. She prepares herself to see her slightly frazzled visage. Instead, she sees exactly what she doesn't want to see.

A black and white spiral swirls round and round, overlayed with the words, You have been hypnotized.

Now she is quite worried that this is going beyond just her imagination. But no, it couldn't be. Could it? No, this is akin to an earworm, some jingle you can't get out of your head. This may be a mind game that Cyril is playing, but it isn't hypnosis. She isn't hypnotized.

With a nod of affirmation to herself, she sits back down on the couch. She has her snack, and the commercial break is about to end. Her show will start in a second or two, and all will be right in her little universe.

When the screen fades momentarily to black between the last commercial and the restarting of the show, she knows without a doubt that there's more to it than just her imagination. Because there it is again: the swirling spiral and, now, new words.

You are my hypnotized slave.

Then, as soon as she reads them, they're gone.

What the hell is going on? How and why is this happening? It can't be that Cyril hypnotized her because she's wide awake. She's thinking and acting of her own free will. He didn't hypnotize her. She's not his slave. So what's the explanation?

That's when she notices.

Her shoes and socks are off. Her bare feet are resting on the coffee table in front of her. They're glistening with freshly applied baby oil. Her phone is in her hand. It's up at her ear. It's dialing. Now it's ringing. She hears a familiar voice answer.

Then she hears her own voice:

"I am your hypnotized slave, Master. And I am ready for you."

That's when she knows. She knows that she has been hypnotized, and she is Cyril's slave. And then she knows nothing more....