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Zerym was the kind of dragon that knew what he wanted.

And right now, what he wanted was the green-feathered blue jay sitting right across the bar. The unusual coloring of the bird wasn't the only thing that had caught Zerym's eye of course, but it had been an unexpected incentive. The discordance between his species and the color of his feathers felt as if it were a statement, a threat or an exercise in exclusivity - whatever it was, Zerym was willing to take it and own it himself. Somehow, it turned out a bunch of oddly-colored feathers was enough to wake his collector instinct, which never remained asleep for long anyway.

The blue jay was very much oblivious to the feelings he had woken in the golden dragon. He'd been glancing at his phone, an annoyed frown forming on his brow - likely waiting for a message that was supposed to have popped up at some point during the past half an hour. Zerym was glad it hadn't. It would pave the way to his entrance without having to spend much time thinking about an excuse. Not that it mattered, of course.

He stood up from the chair he'd been sitting on, the wood groaning in relief as soon as it was released from the weight of the dragon's massive body. There was a reasonable amount of people in the bar, but there was no way the blue jay wouldn't notice Zerym was walking straight towards his table. Not that Zerym would be shy from making an obvious approach.

"Waiting for someone who didn't show up?" the dragon asked gently, once he was near enough. "Hey, it's okay. I'm the same," he added quickly when he noticed the annoyed look in the blue jay's eyes. The bird had been waiting for long enough, and it didn't look like he'd take being told directly in a good way.

"Huh. Yeah. I suppose," he answered, cautiously. The blue jay didn't seem used to being approached by strangers so casually.

"I hope this doesn't come off as invasive, but would you mind if I sat with you?" Zerym asked, testing the ground before making any other moves. "The wait will seem more bearable that way."

"Uh." The bird looked slightly uncomfortable for a second, as if his first impulse was to reject the proposition but he was too polite to say so. "Sure. It's okay."

"I don't think my appointment is coming anyway, so at least I'll keep you company until yours walks through the door," Zerym offered, giving his new acquaintance his best charming smile. "Name's Zerym, by the way."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Blu."

Zerym, who was in the middle of sitting down again, froze and stared at the green blue-jay for a second.

"That's... interesting," he remarked, enjoying the added layer of confusion. "I bet people make a lot of jokes about your name."

"Hmm? Oh, no. Not really." Blu adjusted his position, smiling a bit for the first time since the conversation had started. "Most people tend not to point it out, although I can see they're thinking about it whenever I introduce myself."

"Ah. A mind-reader," Zerym jested.

"Kinda. You get used to it after the millionth time. Thanks for pointing it out directly instead of just, you know... wondering about it."

"My pleasure." Zerym raised one of his heavy claws to scratch his chin. The dragon had just decided introductions had taken long enough. "Say, would you be interested in spending our time waiting with a simple game of cards? Our appointments don't look like they're going to be here anytime soon, so we might as well spend our time playing."

"Oh. Sure. Yeah, it doesn't look like he's coming anyway..." The bird placed his phone, which had been on the table up until that moment, back into his pocket. "A game of cards, you say? I'm afraid I don't know the rules of... well, any of them."

"Ah, you don't need to worry about that." Zerym couldn't help but grin, as his claw moved slowly to his free hand. The movement drew Blu's eyes to the dragon's hand, but even then, he didn't catch the exact second when the deck of cards suddenly appeared on the open palm. "Why don't we play a simple guessing game? That should be easy enough."

Blu watched as the dragon shuffled the deck of cards that had seemingly appeared from nowhere, the avian too surprised to react with a proper question at first. When did the dragon manage to produce the cards, and where did they come from?

"What kind of guessing game?" he managed to ask, after a while.

Zerym looked up from the deck of cards and into his eyes. Blu hadn't noticed until then, but the dragon's eyes seemed to be... glimmering. Maybe it was only causal, innocent enthusiasm caused by the game, the bird thought. On the other hand, dragons were of course highly magical creatures, which would explain the glowing eyes. Nothing weird about that.

Besides, Zerym had been so nice trying to keep him entertained that he didn't want to seem rude by pointing that out. It wasn't as if the dim glow bothered him - quite the contrary, it was strangely pleasant.

"Pick one," the dragon responded. He dealt three cards face down immediately after. Somehow, he managed to do this while still looking into the eyes of the bird. "I'll be the one guessing and leave the easy part to you. Since you're new at this." Zerym winked.

Blu hesitated for a moment, but Zerym seemed so confident in the game that he finally decided to play along and picked the card on the left. He flipped it, making sure the dragon wouldn't see it. A five of clubs.

"Good. Let's start with something easy. I'll try to guess the number." The dragon closed his eyes as if he was thinking deeply about the answer. "Hmmm. Let's see. I'm going to go with... six."

He opened his eyes as soon as he gave the answer, and Blu found himself staring back longingly into them. As soon as he realized what he was doing, the bird cleared his throat and looked down at his card. He'd actually forgotten what it was.

"Nah. Sorry. It was a five," he apologized.

"Heh. It's okay," Zerym picked the card from Blu and shuffled them again. "Guess I still need a few rounds to attune with your mind."

"To do what?" Blu blinked, confused.

"You know. Silly magician nonsense. The kind of thing you say to impress friends," Zerym explained, winking an eye at him.

Blu chuckled, never losing sight of those eyes. Holding the dragon's gaze felt reassuring for some reason. He'd never particularly liked the color gold, but he had the weirdest feeling that he was growing fonder of it by the minute.

The bird shook his head and snapped himself out of it when the dragon dealt two cards.

"I'll be making it a bit easier for me this time," Zerym said, still grinning. When Blu picked one and flipped it, he pretended to think deeply once again. At least, the bird thought it was all mere pretense. The dragon seemed to be enjoying his little act. "I can see a... four this time."

Blu looked down at his card. It was a four of diamonds.

"Yeah. You got it right now," the bird admitted, handing over the card to the dragon and immediately turning his attention to those golden eyes again. Were they glowing brighter now or was it just his imagination?

"I told you. I just needed a round to warm up." The dragon shuffled his cards, his grin slightly wider with a pinch of pride. If Blu hadn't been so fascinated by his eyes, he would have easily realized that he was staring at them in a very obvious way, and Zerym seemed to be perfectly okay with that. "Why don't we make it more difficult now? Instead of guessing the number, why don't I try to guess the suit of the card you pick?"

It took Blu a few seconds to understand what he meant. He had to blink a few times, too.

"Wait, wouldn't that make it eas-"

"See, let me help you understand. There's roughly an 8 percent chance I get the number of your card right at the moment - which is approximately one tenth. If I were to try and guess the suit, however, it'd be one fourth. And we both know four means I have a smaller chance than ten. You understand that to be true. Don't you, Blu?"

The green blue jay wasn't sure he did. There was something weird about Zerym's explanation, like a rope pulling in a certain direction - and the sound of the cards being shuffled as the dragon spoke hadn't made it any easier to focus on what he'd been thinking but what Zerym had been saying instead. Something strange was going on and he was confused. He'd had a good reason to think...

Zerym changed his position and suddenly those eyes were in front of the blue jay again. The feeling of being pulled intensified and he lost track of what he'd been just thinking. How could he have been so certain that changing to guessing suits would make things easier? Now he wasn't certain at all.

Of course, he wasn't certain that it would make things more difficult either, but Zerym was the expert and he'd go with his opinion.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I understand."

The repetition felt a bit silly in his ears, but otherwise pleasurable.

"Good. Pick one."

Three cards had already been drawn. Blu had been too busy staring into the eyes of the dragon to notice. This time he looked at his card before the dragon tried to guess it - a three of hearts.

"It's... Wait. Don't tell me." Zerym's pretense felt slightly less believable this time, although the blue jay had little time to think about it before the dragon gave his answer. "Hearts."

"Yeah," came Blu's answer. He had a bit of a dry throat for some reason. His thoughts were... they were doing something weird. The golden color of those eyes felt smothering. The bird wasn't even sure he could look away now, but somehow that didn't worry in the slightest. In fact, he wanted to keep looking.

"So, about the attuning thing I mentioned earlier," Zerym explained as he shuffled the cards again, "in order to guess correctly, I need to see your thoughts. In order to see your thoughts, I need to enter your mind. You will feel my presence reaching for your thoughts now. You will look into my eyes and let me walk in so I can keep guessing. And every time I give you the right answer, you will feel my presence in your mind intensify. You will offer no resistance because you want to keep playing. You want to keep looking. Don't you, Blu."

"Yes." This time, the bird's answer came almost automatically. He had wanted to keep looking. Wasthe dragon always so big? Right now, as Blu's shoulders weighed down on him and forced him to lean his body on the table, Zerym looked taller than ever. Even from his lower position, the blue jay still found himself held by the dragon's gaze.

There wasn't much he could think about other than that.

"I'm going to make it even more difficult for me. You like it when I make it more difficult for me. It makes my presence in your mind more meaningful." The sound of the cards being shuffled was the only thing that accompanied Zerym's voice. All other sounds seemed to be very, very far away. "I'm going to guess the card's color. It is a more difficult guess by far. Nod if you understand, Blu."

The blue jay nodded. He had a feeling that his beak was hanging open for some reason. His eyelids felt... heavy, as did the rest of him. His head was leaning on his chest, eyes still looking up so that they would keep connected to Zerym's powerful, overbearing gaze.

"Pick one."

Blu motioned with one of his hands towards one card. This time, Zerym picked it and showed it to the bird so that he didn't have to look away.

"It's black."

He didn't wait for a confirmation before pretending to shuffle the cards again. The chosen card had been blurry in front of Blu anyway and he couldn't tell the color of the two figures on its surface anymore - there was no more red or black for him, just blissful gold taking over the mist of his remaining thoughts. His mind felt like it had been taken to another plane of existence, a place where Zerym's huge hand was grabbing his head and forcing him down on his knees and he was still looking up, still looking into those golden eyes as they melted away every single trace of resistance. A place where he belonged completely to that gaze.

A place where he listened and obeyed.

The dragon's voice snapped him out of the alluring scenario.

"More difficult now, Blu. I'm going to guess whether you picked a card or not. When I give the right answer, you will go back to that place. You will abandon yourself to my power and completely belong to me. There will be no resistance. No thoughts. Only my words, followed by your obedience. You will listen and obey. You understand."

It wasn't a question, so Blu didn't answer. He just let every single word sink into his mind like sharp knives into warm butter. He would listen and obey.

"You picked a card."

The card seemed to float in front of him this time, but Blu didn't even register that it was an ace of spades, and it didn't matter at all. The rest of the bar had faded a long, long time ago - all sounds muffled and the place lost somewhere else where he couldn't reach it anymore. All that remained was that powerful gaze burning his mind like a candle and the card, floating in between, glowing with that golden color that now and forever owned him completely.

"I win, Blu."

That was when Ray walked into the bar.

The burly wolf dog had been admiring a weird but compelling spectacle from outside the establishment's window - there had been a huge golden dragon apparently dealing cards to... someone whose figure had become hidden by the chair they were sitting on. Ray could have sworn at least one of those cards had been glowing and by glancing quickly at the dragon he could tell that those eyes had been doing things normal eyes are not supposed to do.

That was a surprise. He'd expected to be the only hypnotist in the bar.

It wasn't until the wolf-dog had walked a few steps that he could finally discern the identity of the dragon's victim and he had to suppress a sigh. Carrying a light, almost empty backpack on his shoulder, Ray approached the massive dragon with a frown. He glanced around casually and found out that no one seemed to have noticed what was going on in the table. The wolf dog had to wonder if the dragon had taken measures to prevent people from prying or if it was just a matter of sheer luck.

Zerym had been focused on establishing his new-found slave's mantras by a classic exercise of repetition, so the sound of the backpack dropping on the table almost startled him. A bit confused at first, the dragon turned his golden gaze to the intruder and tried to be as well-mannered as possible, given the circumstances.

"I was kind of in the middle of something," he pointed out, a sharp edge hiding in his otherwise polite voice.

"Oh, never mind me," Ray reassured the dragon, sitting down on an empty chair and giving him a calm smile. "Go on, finish the job."

Zerym held his gaze, the glow in his eyes growing dimmer. He could just as easily have tried to subdue the canine there and then, but the unexpected entrance of a third element in their conversation had caught him off-guard. The dragon tried to regain his composure and turned to the mindless bird.

"Sit up, back straight," came his command, succinct and authoritative.

Blu, who had been lost in the bottomless pool of his now thoroughly emptied mind, reacted as if waking up from deep slumber. Doing as he was told, the blue jay's body tensed, back streightening until he was sitting up again, half-lidded eyes staring vacantly at the dragon in front of him. Zerym felt a smile creep onto his face as the power rush from having a command obeyed so immediately hit him. Whether the wolf-dog was sitting there or not, he was still the one in control. Ray, in any event, had remained silent ever since he had sat on the chair.

With a slight gesture of Zerym's hand, the floating card began hovering towards Blu's chest. When it reached the bird, it seemed to merge into his body, going through his clothes as if they were made of mist. Ray squinted with just a bit of interest as a golden tattoo appeared on the blue jay's chest, right where the card had landed. He had a feeling such a significant power move would have been followed by words - if only for the aesthetic of the whole process - but Zerym remained silent, as if no words were needed to further establish his control. Ray didn't doubt that was the case.

Blu, on the other hand, barely shivered when he was hit by the overwhelming wave of obedience, filling the empty space his thoughts and will had left behind. His eyes seemed to glow momentarily with the same golden light that had overpowered him before they returned to their glassy, vacant stare.

"Fascinating," Ray admitted, in a tone that tried to be congratulatory.

Zerym scoffed.

"You don't seem half as surprised as you should be," he noted, turning to the wolf-dog and ignoring the blue jay for the time being. It wasn't as if the bird was going anywhere. "It takes some nerve to interrupt this kind of thing. I wonder if you're aware of what was really going on."

"Uh, not at all. Enlighten me." Ray smirked. "Maybe not the same way you enlightened him, though."

"So you knew what I was doing and _still_you walked in." Zerym stared at the wolf dog, as if trying to decide whether he liked his nerve or not. "Perhaps you'd like a little game of cards with me."

"With you? Doesn't seem like a wise idea," Ray answered, chuckling softly and glancing at Blu's tattoo again. "So is that how you tricked him? By offering him a quick game while he waited here on his own?"

"The bird seemed bored. I merely provided a distraction," Zerym answered, shrugging. "We didn't discuss the duration of said distraction, though. Or exactly what it'd distract him from."

"So what? You just play poker with him and when you win - and I bet you always do - he becomes your thrall?" Ray asked. For the first time since the conversation had started, he looked genuinely interested.

"That's an inelegant way to summarize it. But mostly, yes. I wish we really had played poker though," the golden dragon admitted, tilting his head. "I had to settle for a simple guessing game in the end. It would seem nobody cares for card games nowadays."

"Oh, I know. A friend of mine - he's never learned to play a single game. Guess writing takes all of his time."

"Enough of this." Zerym scratched his temple with one of his claws. He could be patient for only so long. "You must have interrupted me for one reason. I'd hear it."

"Is it reliable?" Ray asked, as an answer. He pointed at Blu. "I mean, that method of enthrallment."

"Hmm? Why would you think it's not?" Zerym wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, the way I see it, there are plenty of things that could go wrong. I assume you must have used some kind of magic to hypnotize him - now, I'm not familiar with the specifics, but magic is usually linked to the magician somehow. So, what if you fall asleep? Would our friend still be happily subservient when you wake up?"

"It has never been a problem before," Zerym assured him.

"But what if you run out of battery, so to speak?"

"I... I do not run out of battery," the dragon answered, frowning. "What do you think I am? A mobile phone?"

"What I'm trying to say is that your powers must have a limit," Ray explained. "Nobody has limitless power. That would make you a god."

Zerym politely chose not to answer this time.

"Plus, I'm guessing your hold over him must be renewed from time to time, am I right?"

"Look at his chest. Does that give you a clue?"

"Huh. So you leave that mark there and it keeps him under control. Clever," Ray admitted. "But I suppose it keeps on draining your energy, doesn't it? What happens if you find yourself with too many thralls to keep under your grip? Does the effect grow thinner somehow? Does it fail?"

"Again. It has never been a problem," Zerym insisted, with an exasperated sigh. "But if you're so curious about it, I guess I can show y-"

"I'm asking because this is the kind of problem you'd never have with my technology," Ray interrupted him, glancing at his backpack with a confident smile. "I've predicted all these scenarios and made sure they never happen under my watch. And then I've adjusted all settings for optimal performance."

Zerym remained quiet for a few seconds, trying to disregard the fact that the wolf dog had implied his powers were unreliable and focusing instead on the new information he had uncovered. Meanwhile, Blu remained perfectly still and motionless, just asthe golden dragon he now served had last commanded him to be.

So the intruder was a hypnotist himself. That made him much more interesting all of a sudden. It also explained why the wolf dog had walked into the bar and sat so casually next to him. Maybe he'd been looking for inspiration.

"What kind of technology?" he asked, calmly.

"Uh. You know. Just a classic visor thingy," Ray answered, waving his hand as if he was dismissing it now. "You put it on someone's head. Control it remotely. Fun stuff."

"I've seen those before," Zerym admitted. "I honestly don't know how they can work on someone. It's just a screen with numbers and words. Either you choose a subject with a will as strong as a house of cards or have that thing strapped to their head for hours in hopes that they will finally break. I don't see any fun in that."

"Hours? It doesn't take that long. My current record is at five minutes," Ray informed the dragon, with a smile. He then seemed to hesitate a bit. "It usually takes from ten to fifteen, though. Depends on the settings I use, too."

"So you put random text in front of someone for ten minutes and somehow that is enough to turn them into mindless thralls?" The golden dragon shook his head in disbelief. "What a ridiculous concept."

"Hey, it works." Ray shrugged. If he was bothered by Zerym's lack of faith, he didn't let it show. "And let me insist - it's much more reliable than magic."

"Hmph. I don't see why. At best, you face the same risks you say I do. Your device can run out of battery at any moment."

"Oh, yeah, that can happen! But it's still more reliable, the way I see it. Look, you have to focus not only on hypnotizing your thralls, but you also have to keep them under your control, make sure you're not exceeding yourself and re-establish your control whenever it fails - if it does, which you'll have to be checking from time to time." Ray lay back on his seat, clasping his paws together. "However, I've designed my technology to do all of that for me. I can just relax and let it do all the work - and if something fails, I get a notification and I can fix it immediately, which should be my only concern."

He finished his explanation with a big smile. Zerym, who had been wondering whether he should use his "unreliable powers" to make the wolf dog cease talking, decided in the end to take his criticism lightly. The dragon knew there was an aspect his magic was better at than any device Ray could program. He waved a hand at the entranced bird, as if to demonstrate.

"I belong to Master Zerym," the bird muttered, without being told to do so. "His wish is my command. I bequeath my mind and body to Him."

"Very literary," Ray observed.

"See? Can your visor create the same deep sense of devotion? I highly doubt it," the dragon stated, his chest swelling with pride.

"If you're so curious about it, I can show you how it works."

It didn't take Zerym long to realize he'd been the one who had intended to say that sentence, not so long ago. However, the details and specifics of why he'd wanted to say that had become lost behind the need to demonstrate Ray's method wasn't as effective as the wolf dog kept claiming. For all he knew, the annoying intruder might have never hypnotized anyone and be simply playing to the gallery. Zerym hadn't seen any proof of the effectiveness Ray seemed to be so proud of - and maybe having the wolf-dog fail spectacularly would give him a much needed dose of humility and pave the way back to his initial offer of a not-so-innocent game of cards.

He turned his chair to the so-called hypnotist, grinning.

"Do you really think you could do that?" he asked, calmly.

Ray shrugged.

"I mean, it's worth the try. That way you can experience it and judge for yourself which method is better. Sounds good?"

"I'm considering it, yes." Zerym scratched his chin, still grinning. "Okay. But if for any reason your attempt at hypnosis fails, I will show you what real enthralling means and feels like."

"Oh, wow, wait." Ray seemed slightly nervous all of a sudden. The implications of that nervousness made Zerym's grin grow wider. "I'm not sure I want that to happen to me. How can I be sure you'll give my mind back to me after we're done? You could keep me like that for as long as you'd like."

"Then you'll have to make sure you don't fail." The golden dragon stretched his wings and suddenly appeared much bigger and unconquerable than a few seconds before. Ray seemed to gulp. "I thought your method was much more effective than mine. Now's your chance to prove it."

Ray blinked a few times, hesitant. His gaze slipped to the bird sitting next to him, as if considering his options.

"Alright," he agreed, reaching for his backpack tentatively. After searching for a few seconds, he pulled something out of the bag.

Zerym frowned, looking at the small contraption. It wasn't that he hadn't expected the canine to be carrying one of those visors - he had deduced that much from the quick glances he kept shooting at his backpack - but he had expected it to be a bit... bigger.

"Let's see if I can get this to work, then," Ray said, loosening the strap at the back of the visor so that it would fit around the dragon's head.

"Were you looking for a smaller victim?" Zerym asked, raising an eyebrow. He didn't feel threatened in the slightest by the piece of technology. In fact, the more he looked at how tiny and feeble it looked, the funnier he found the wolf-dog's attempt at putting him under.

"Kind of. Alright, here it is. Try it on."

Zerym picked the visor with two fingers and placed the strap around his head. He hadn't expected it to be so comfortable to wear or for it to fill his sight completely. The slightly shaded glass seemed to cover his whole field of vision - no matter how small it had seemed before. Zerym guessed it had been carefully measured and designed, even for creatures his size.

Ray had begun fidgeting with his mobile phone. For an instant, the dragon felt insulted - no matter how scarce the chance of his success was, he was allowing the wolf-dog to try and enthrall him, and it was certainly not the time to check social media.

But then, the screen buzzed and came to life, displaying a colorful logo that spanned in the center of the glass for a few seconds.

"I control it from my phone," Ray explained, with a smile. "It's easier that way."

Zerym nodded. The logo disappeared and was replaced with the phrase [Awaiting input...]. The dragon had expected everything to be more immediate, for some reason.

"I'm going to run you through my standard program." The wolf-dog tapped a few icons on his phone's screen, glancing at Zerym from time to time. "See how you react to it."

"You'd better make the best of this chance while you can," Zerym taunted. He was about to add something, but then the screen buzzed again and was filled with commands.

They didn't remain on the screen for long. Instead, they just blinked in and out - sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller, sometimes changing their position on Zerym's field of vision, but not always. Some of them remained in the same place, like an insistent ad on a badly built website. There were so many words and phrases that it took the golden dragon a few seconds to read the first one. It was a very casual and ordinary [Relax] that kept blinking in the middle of the screen.

Zerym had to suppress a scoff. The command would have felt almost inviting if it weren't for its cheesiness. "Relax" was the most likely thing for a hypnotist to say and it had been repeated so many times that by now it almost sounded comical. "You're getting very sleepy" was probably a close second in the ranking. Every hypnotist tried their subjects to become sleepy and relaxed, obviously, but there were different ways to phrase it so that their attempt wouldn't be so transparent.

Those instructions were, evidently, the work of an amateur. Zerym relaxed, but only because there was no reason to keep his defenses up.

"Feeling anything already?" Ray asked. The wolf dog seemed rather calm, given the circumstances.

"Nothing, I'm afraid. I'm still awake." Zerym smirked. "These commands are a bit... all over the place, don't you think?"

"Yeah, they're programmed that way."

The dragon tried to read more of them, just to see if they were of a similar caliber. He found an [Empty Mind] on the right half of the screen and a [No Thoughts] on the left. [Heavy] was also somewhere, although Zerym lost track of where exactly - it was difficult to maintain eye contact with all of them and maybe that was one of those that were moving.

It was kind of funny to try and find them all, though. Those that kept moving on the screen were never in the same position twice. [Deep Breaths] was one of those, for instance. Zerym was so entertained trying to find the next clumsy hypnosis trope that almost didn't hear Ray when he talked again.

"I'm going to add an altered state of mind filter. Wait a second."

"Filter? What?" the dragon asked, still grinning.

He soon understood what the canine meant. Suddenly, the screen buzzed again and everything the dragon was seeing through the shaded glass seemed to... blur. Not only blur, but the outlines of every single object and person in the room vibrated and rippled - maybe even swirled, too.

Amazed, Zerym moved his head and tried to fix his gaze in different spots. It was practically impossible, for there was no way to get a good reference of where he was looking at. The feeling resembled that of being slightly drunk or waking up from a long sleep. In fact, he could almost feel the world wobbling under his feet. In the end, the dragon decided to stare forward so that he wouldn't make himself dizzier. There were no signs of dropping into trance yet - he felt perfectly awake, just slightly overwhelmed by the whole display.

He also felt a pinch of admiration. Replicating that effect on a visor had to be a difficult job. Ray definitely knew what he was doing. If only he'd chosen better commands to place on the visor - or properly arranged them in a succession that made any sense at all - that contraption might have actually worked.

"It's good, right?" Ray asked, aware of the dragon's feeling of surprise.

"It's definitely something," Zerym agreed. "But I'm still awake. How do you like gold, hmm?"

"Probably not as much as you do. Heh."

"Well, I'd say you'd better get used to looking at it," the dragon advised, as his grin got wider. "It will be the only thing filling your head for a long time."

"Mhm. Speaking of looking at things for a long time, anything weird you've seen on the screen?"

Zerym chuckled softly.

"I don't know if you take any constructive criticism, but let me tell you that you have too many commands going on in this thing right now." He shifted his position again and the whole world seemed to sway. The feeling of dizziness was very real, though. "There are so many words that I can't read them all. Consciously or subconsciously. There's too much here for anyone to notice."

"Oh." Ray didn't sound like that surprised him. "That's exactly the point."

"Hm?"

"This is not about the words you read. This is about the words you don't read. Those are the ones conditioning you right now. And as you say, there's too many that you're barely noticing."

Zerym hesitated for a second. His eyes moved through the screen on the visor, trying to find one of those stealthy words. When he didn't, he relaxed again and allowed himself to grin.

"I'm sorry, but I'm still awake. I don't know what you mean, but it definitely isn't working on me."

"Oh? I'll help you understand. Top right corner. See if you can find it."

Zerym did as he was told, a confident smile still on his lips. His eyes moved to the corner, looking for anything specific that might be what the wolf dog was talking about. There were a few blinking words there, smaller than the rest. He had a feeling he'd seen them out of the corner of his eye, but he hadn't paid them any attention until now.

The words were [You're still awake].

The dragon frowned. That was surprisingly different from the other phrases, somehow. Contradictory, too. Why would someone put that there to keep his subjects awake? It didn't make any sense.

"Do you understand now?"

"I... don't," Zerym admitted. He was still trying to guess why he had led him to that particular message.

Ray chuckled.

"Look."

He tapped on the phone. Suddenly, the command stopped blinking. Zerym blinked instead, unable to hide his surprise. Where had it gone?

"What-"

His eyes narrowed and ran over the screen again, trying to find the missing command. The dizzy feeling intensified, but Zerym doubted that was something the wolf dog had done. It was the same filter - but it was more noticeable when he was looking around, trying to find a specific set of words.

"Bottom left corner, now," Ray said, noticing his struggle to find it.

Zerym quickly searched in that spot - and he found the words, although it took him a bit longer this time. His mind and the world beyond the visor seemed to be pulsing somehow, but it must have been because of the overwhelming experience. Too many words and rippling shapes. It was enough to tire anyone's brain.

Still, there it was. [You're still awake]. The command he'd been looking for. Its constant, rhythmic blink felt rewarding, for some reason.

Or at least, that was the feeling Zerym got before the words disappeared again. A grumble came from the depths of his throat.

"Lost sight of it again?" Ray asked. He sounded like he was having way more fun than he was supposed to.

Zerym wanted to reply, but his eyes were already moving through the rippling patterns and blinking words trying to find where the command had been relocated to. The dragon had a feeling it was concealed in plain sight, and he would find it again right when the wolf-dog said where it was. It was like looking into one of those optical illusions - there is a certain picture you know is hiding there and you're staring straight at it, but you're unable to recognize it until someone points it out.

"A bit to your right," Ray helped him.

And there it was.

Zerym saw it blink a few times before it disappeared again. This time, the dragon didn't even need for the wolf dog to say anything before his eyes moved again, trying to find the command. He went past [Sleep] [Deeper] [Empty Mind] and [Heavy] in search for the one he'd been looking for, following his first impulse, which was to look on the top left corner. But when he found nothing, his eyes moved to his right through [No Thoughts] [Blank] [Obey] and [Sleep] again, only to find no results.

Then Ray's voice came to his ears telling him where to look at and he did so - [Empty Mind] [Deeper] [Deeper] [Relax] - and when it blinked out of existence again Zerym just waited for the wolf dog to tell him where to go from there, which was - [Sleep] [Deeper] [No Thoughts] [Blank] [No Thoughts] - the middle of the screen. And then it happened again, and again, and - [Obey] [Empty Mind] [Sleep] - again.

It was like playing an unconscious game of cat and mouse through an ocean of rippling, pulsating silhouettes and blinking words. Before Zerym could realize, he had lost track of how many times the elusive command had disappeared and reappeared. The real world was just an amalgam of simple, effective commands wrapped in dizziness and an insistent, focused feeling of mindless chase. Everything was swirling around him as he swam forward, reading without reading, looking without looking, listening to the wolf-dog's words without really knowing what he was doing.

And then, after guiding him to the center of the screen for a last time, Ray spoke again and said something different. Not guidance. Not a direction for him to sail towards in the deep sea he was immersed in. Just a very specific instruction.

"Read the command, dragon."

Zerym read it. It had been a while since he had really paid any attention to the words that it was made of. He'd been too busy chasing them all over the screen.

And the command said [You're deep in trance].

Ray's smile grew prouder as he watched the massive dragon in front of him melt like a candle. Zerym's broad shoulders were pushed down by an invisible weight, his whole body releasing the tension it had been building during the last few minutes. His chest sank as a deep breath came out of his lips and his unclenched jaw hung ajar. An arm, limp and heavy, dropped from the armrest and swayed back and forth a few times before coming to a stop. His neck could barely keep his head from resting on his chest, and it would have gladly allowed it to do so had it not been for the deep need to keep on staring at the powerful, unremovable command in the middle of the screen.

[You're deep in trance].

The good thing was, Ray thought, that after having guided so many poor souls into that very state, Zerym knew perfectly well what that meant and how it must have felt. There was no need for explanations. No need for him to intervene. That was why he had built that visor, anyway - so that it'd make all the work for him.

Still, he couldn't resist having a little revenge on the golden dragon. It was his time to prove a point, after all. His fingers swiftly tapped a few custom sentences on the visor and a command to repeat.

"I belong to Master Ray," Zerym muttered in a monotone. "His wish is my command. I bequeath my mind and body to Him."

"So it turns out I could do it. Well. That's one less thing to worry about," the wolf -dog said, scratching his chest.

He swiped the screen to switch to a stopwatch app he had started right when the dragon had put on the visor. Six minutes and forty two seconds.

Ray's smile widened as a feeling of triumph took over him. He hadn't been completely honest with Zerym during their conversation.

Specifically, about his current record. He'd never been as quick as five minutes.

"They're quiet, aren't they?"

Kodi had been watching the two strangers in his brother's lab for the last few minutes. The big, golden dragon and the smaller green blue bird. They kept working silently, not saying a single word. It wasn't as if Ray needed to give them instructions - they just did whatever they were supposed to do without even being told. It wasn't the first time he'd seen that either. Sometimes, Kodi could have sworn Ray was capable of giving telepathic orders. At least, that was what it looked like.

"They're just my new coworkers," Ray explained. "I told you I had an interview, didn't I? To hire someone. I need some help with the lab."

Kodi shrugged. He'd always thought Ray's "lab" was more like a garage, nothing serious but a hobby instead. That was why he had expected his brother to hire one person at most, not two. And they seemed so awkwardly focused on their tasks...

"Do they speak our language?" he asked, shyly. Their silence was beginning to feel a bit weird.

"Sure!" Ray said. He was, as usual, fidgeting with his phone.

The blue bird, who had been helping the golden dragon pick up some heavy boxes full of equipment, waved at Kodi. After leaving the box on the other side of the room, the big dragon also turned to him in a similar manner. His body felt kind of heavy even as he moved and the way he greeted him with a gesture felt... strangely choreographed.

The visor over their eyes didn't precisely make the scene less awkward.

"And you aren't going to help them?" he asked his brother. "This lab is supposed to be yours."

"Oh. I think I've earned a rest. These interviews can be exhausting sometimes."

Kodi decided it would probably be wiser to give up. When Ray didn't want to give additional details, there was no way of getting information out of him. Besides, his lab had always been a bit of a personal project, so he didn't feel like he was in a place to intrude.

"I guess if they're here you must have promised to pay them well," he mentioned, though. "I wonder - how good are you at this whole job interview stuff?"

Ray looked up from his phone and grinned. If he hadn't known his brother well, Kodi would have said there was a slightly scary gleam in his eyes.

"Oh, well, what can I say?" he asked, with a smirk. "A job interview is like a game, sometimes. You only need to know how to win."