The woman in the chair grimaced. With all her might, she pushed against the smooth, round bands that encircled her waist, wrists, and ankles. But the restraints didn't yield in the slightest.

Locked in place with her legs elevated and her feet bare, the woman couldn't help but feel vulnerable and exposed. She sighed dejectedly and sank back against the padded upholstery that remained her prison.

"Why are you doing this?" she said. "Please, just let me go."

Receiving no response, she renewed her struggles. But they availed her no better results than before.

A lab technician moved into view. Marking off each item on a tablet, she verified the position of the woman, state of the restraints, and readiness of electronic components surrounding the chair.

"All is ready," the technician said to a third woman seated at a desk at the other end of the room. "Shall I begin, Mistress?"

Severna Strickland stood up, and then strode slowly but purposefully across the room. She exuded authority and control. She exemplified power. She embodied evil.

"Yes," Severna said upon reaching the technician's side. "Begin with a level one."

"Beginning with a level one, Mistress."

"Please, you don't have to do this," the woman in the chair said. "You can let me go. That's all I want. I just want to leave."

"Oh, no, I can't have that," Severna said with an icily cruel smile. "I need you to stay. And stay you will."

In punctuation of her captor's statement, the woman heard a low, mechanical hum and saw an eerie, pulsing glow emanating from a helmet-like object that hovered just above her head. The sound and light had an immediate affect on her: Despite herself, she relaxed and grew suddenly drowsy.

"We are at level one, Mistress," the technician said.

"Listen carefully," Severna said to the woman in the chair. "You have no problem with the changes that have been made. In fact, you are happy with them. You support them. You will encourage all of your friends to support them, too."

The woman's head lolled, and her eyelids fluttered. Severna repeated her instructions, then added new ones.

"You will not leave DeviantArt. You have no desire to leave. You like Eclipse. You love Eclipse. Eclipse has made DeviantArt better in every way. Now, repeat back what I have told you."

"...I...have no problem with..." the woman said in a soft, sleepy drawl. "...No problem with...with..."

"Say it," Severna said impatiently.

"...No problem with...with...no...no...no..."

"She is resisting, Mistress," the technician said.

"That should not happen, even at level one."

"No, Mistress. But somehow, she is doing it."

"She truly despises this Eclipse. They all do. Level one won't do the trick. Initiate a level two."

"Yes, Mistress. Initiating level two."

The hum and glow within the helmet intensified. In response, the woman trembled. Her fingers twitched, and her toes scrunched and splayed.

Severna waited a moment, then reissued her instructions.

The woman fumbled and faltered. But still she refused to accept her programming.

"I'm sorry, Mistress," the technician said nervously. "But even at level two, the subject remains defiant."

Severna's smile faded. She glared at the woman in the chair. Did this self-professed artist, this supposed creative soul think she could actually defy the power of DeviantArt? If she did, then she needed to think again. But no, not think again, this woman must not think at all. If she would not bend, she must break.

"Initiate level three," Severna said, the smile returning to her face, icier and crueler than before.

"Yes, Mistress. Initiating level three."

If it took a full washing of the woman's brain for her to comply, then so be it. If that meant the woman was no longer as artistic as she had been, no longer possessed the creativity she once had, what did Severna care? All that mattered was Eclipse and getting women like this one to accept, embrace, and love it.

Much louder and brighter now, the hum and glow within the helmet caused the woman to visibly shake. Her eyes rolled up, and she began to whimper. Severna watched and waited for close to a minute. Then, once again, she spoke.

"Listen carefully: You have no problem with the changes that have been made. In fact, you are happy with them. You support them. You will encourage all of your friends to support them, too. You will not leave DeviantArt. You have no desire to leave. You like Eclipse. You love Eclipse. Eclipse has made DeviantArt better in every way. Now, repeat back what I have told you."

"...I have no problem with the changes that have been made...In fact, I am happy with them...I support them...I will encourage all of my friends to support them, too....I will not leave DeviantArt....I have no desire to leave...I like Eclipse...I love Eclipse...Eclipse has made DeviantArt better in every way."

Severna's smile grew to crocodile proportions. The woman now smiled, too. Though hers was the dopey, contented smile of one brainwashed into mindless obedience and submission.

If this was what it took for Eclipse to succeed, Severna had no problem subjecting every woman on DeviantArt to the very same brainwashing. In fact, she looked forward to doing just that....