The Kidnapped Hero and Brainwashing Interrogation (1)
After such a grand affair with Apple, they took a short break. Once that rest was over, as always, he fed her the brainwashing drug again and reinforced the hypnotic suggestions implanted deep within her. Apple was already as thoroughly brainwashed as could be, thanks to Dorothy—but Dorothy had been nagging him not to get complacent, to stay cautious no matter what.
'...We don't really need to go this far, do we?'
Such thoughts crossed his mind, but remembering Spade's case chased away any lax ideas. Right. He had to be careful—extra careful. No repeats of last time. He needed to be even more thorough.
With that, he finished checking and reinforcing Apple's brainwashing, then gave her one final round of sex, creampieing deep inside her belly before sending her off. He could've let her go in the morning, but it was better if possible to avoid anyone spotting Apple coming and going at late hours.
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"Huuuaang~ ...Dorothy, you there?"
The next day—no, since he'd sent Apple off at dawn, it was that same afternoon. After crashing at the hotel for a bit and waking only when the sun was high in the sky, No. 13 returned to the hideout and headed straight for Dorothy's lab. Maybe because of the intense night before, he felt a touch of fatigue despite his Awakener stamina. A pathetic yawn escaped him inevitably.
"Executive showing up late, No. 13? Where were you last night? You weren't around this morning either."
"I was out handling Apple since last night. Can't exactly meet heroes during the day, right? Had no choice."
"Does the boss know?"
"...I told the Advisor at least."
Our boss does have that rigid side, after all. No. 13 dodged Dorothy's accusatory glare as he said it. He'd reported the brainwashing drugs and tools to the boss, but he'd deliberately skipped the gritty details of exactly what he'd done to the heroes. Sure, as long as it didn't harm the organization and he did his job right, the boss wouldn't complain... but still, it was hard to say out loud.
'She probably already guesses without me saying anything.'
He remembered the boss's subtle look when they'd discussed brainwashing. Rigid as she was—and obviously a virgin at that—she had to have figured out what a scumbag playboy villain like him would do to defenseless, beautiful women under hypnosis. The words alone painted the picture. The boss wasn't clueless; she was just turning a mature blind eye.
"Not exactly something to brag about, so I'll tell her if it comes up."
"Yeah, it's embarrassing. Your whole existence is."
"...Getting prickly there? Something up? On your period?"
"You wanna die for real?"
Dorothy growled with murderous intent. She looked like she'd actually kill him—horribly, too—so No. 13 quickly bowed his head in surrender.
He dragged over a chair and sat, and Dorothy placed a vial in front of him instead of tea. No label, but he'd received it from her a few times before—he knew what it was. He chugged the brown bottle of stamina booster. Tasteless and bitterly awful, but he felt energy surging right away.
"Thanks as always, Dorothy."
"I'll bill you later. I'm racking it up every time."
"...Don't do that. Seriously. You know I'm broke. I even owe the Advisor now."
"You still haven't paid that back? No plans to?"
"Ugh... I want to, but."
It was way past the point of repaying with a normal job. His salary was stingy enough already. For reference, the Advisor didn't just get organization pay—she had side gigs too, including stocks, and they were all hitting big. So the Advisor was rich. No. 13 was poor. And inevitably, as her boss, he ended up bowing his head to borrow money from the endlessly generous Advisor.
"You know that's abuse of power, right? Even if we're outlaws, we gotta follow our own rules."
"...Stop, just stop, Dorothy. For real. I know. I didn't want to either. Wasn't planning to, but then I psych myself up, go talk to her... and next thing I know, I'm borrowing again."
No. 13 protested like he was the victim. Sure, it sounded like he was entirely at fault—and he was—but he couldn't help feeling that way. He knew it was wrong, swore to himself he'd never do it again, approached the Advisor with remorse... but mid-conversation, she felt like a benevolent saint (formerly a man, so saint?), like she'd understand anything, like he should lean on her more... and suddenly he'd borrowed money. Plus some extras. What the hell happened?
Dorothy listened, then made a face like she'd figured it out and sighed.
"Idiot. You're totally hooked... Doesn't even realize his nose is pierced in real time... Well, I didn't think much when I thought she was a guy... but now that I know she's a woman..."
"...? Dorothy, you get something?"
"Forget it. Don't worry about it. Or even if you did, it's too late."
Dorothy asked—just in case—about the amount he owed. No. 13 cautiously lowballed it to about half. Dorothy let out a sigh of resignation.
"Yeah. Sure. No hope."
"...Right?"
"Yep. No future. Rest in peace."
Even at half, she was already giving up. The full amount plus interest (Advisor said no need, but he'd insisted) would've made her faint. He vaguely knew he was screwed, but damn, this bad? Yeah, big trouble. The Advisor wouldn't come at him with a knife over it... but what now? He had nothing left but his body. Selling all his organs might barely cover it... Dorothy eyed him with pity, like she knew something. Don't keep it to yourself—tell me what you're thinking.
Anyway, they wrapped up the Advisor debt talk there. No point dwelling. Time for the real reason he'd come—not just for the stamina booster.
"How's Club doing?"
No. 13 glanced toward the inner lab, door firmly shut. The kidnapping and brainwashing of Club was underway in there, mostly handled by Dorothy.
"Smooth so far. Basic work should wrap by tonight. With the Spade thing, I'm putting extra care in."
"Good. Not just drugging or sniffing like before, huh."
"...FYI, that was only Spade. Apple went through way more complex steps."
Come to think of it, yeah. Spade was all No. 13 from start to finish—crude drug hypnosis. To hand her to Dorothy, he'd have needed to bring her to the hideout, but even brainwashed, he avoided the risk. Seeing Spade go berserk recently proved he was right.
"Yeah, you put real effort into Apple. Her brainwashing was solid. Still getting tons of help from her."
"Glad to hear it. First Awakener target, so I was worried—figured 90% chance she'd snap out quick."
"...That risky? You trusted me with that, Dorothy?"
"What choice? No other way. Anyway, good it helped."
Dorothy shrugged casually. We've been banking on 10% odds this whole time? But it worked out, so no real complaints. Plus, Dorothy taught Apple the brainwashing know-how, which had helped in key moments...
Anyway, now it was Club's turn, not Apple. Apple was in a perfectly worry-free state.
"Honestly, it'd be easier for me to format her personality and install a new one."
"No, Dorothy. Boss said the same—not just me."
"...Tch. You and the boss aren't villainy enough. Makes more work for me."
Dorothy sighed irritably.
"Most processes are done anyway. Just final mental-physical adaptation now... Should finish by tonight. I'll stop there—you handle the rest."