Prompt: Nell's Mind is a Black Hole

Summary: Nell, the Orange Star CO, is kidnapped by Black Hole forces, and is subjected to their prototype hypnotizing technology! Whatever will she do?? A prompt for AltrixWrites for the month of January '24

[Story Listing]

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"Ugh... I was careless to let this happen to me."

Nell, the commander of Orange Star forces, struggled against her restraints; she was tied down to a chair in an empty room, turned to face an enormous screen. When she received intel of a secret Black Hole laboratory, she anticipated it was some sort of trap, and accompanied a scouting party to get a lay for the land. She didn't expect an ambush to be laid just outside of her own headquarters!

And now she was in the clutches of the foul, the nefarious Black Hole. Surely reinforcements were on their way to rescue her, but she'd have to stall for time, and steel herself against whatever foul plans Black Hole had in mind for her.

Nell raised her head as she heard a door near the front of the empty room creak open, and a pale, frizzy-haired CO strolled into the room, holding a bucket of popcorn.

"Lash..." Nell's eyes narrowed. "I had a feeling you of all people were behind this."

"Eyyyyyyyyy, commander." Lash smirked, popping a kernel in her mouth. "You Orange Stars reeeeeeally can't help yourselves from poking your noses into other people's business, huh?"

"And Black Hole can't help itself from invading sovereign nations!" Nell growled. "Whatever it is you want, I'm not talking! Your interrogation techniques won't work on me!"

"Heard that one before~" Lash snickered, pacing around Nell and towards the back. "You hotshot commanders are aaaaall the same, pumping your tires with all the bravado in the world... at least until your tiiiiiiiny little minds get reduced to pulp!"

"Orange Star COs are made of stronger stuff than that!" Nell puffed her cheeks. "HQ knows I'm gone, you know; they're gonna send people after me, and then you'll be sorry; I bet you even dragged me into your little secret lab too, huh??"

"Well, if more of your cronies are coming, then I better move the experiment along," Lash shrugged, stepping into a room in the back. "Gotta speed up your training if you're gonna be a top Black Hole operative!~"

"What? What do you mean by- HEY!"

Nell's sentence was cut off by the sound of Lash slamming the door shut. A projector whirred to life, and the screen in front of Nell lit up moments later.

Follow the spiral...

The spiral is bliss...

"Ngah, nn..." Nell closed her eyes tight, trying not to look at the hypnotic pattern that was projected on screen, and trying to block out the alluring voice trying to bore into her head. Nell was familiar with this experimental Black Hole tech, and knew that if she gave it even an iota of attention, the hypnotic spiral on screen, coupled with the mesmerizing commands, would lull her into a false-sense of security...

Eyes open, cadet!

Lash's voice called through the intercom. Nell would be zapped by an abrupt electric shock from the chair, one that rattled her enough to open her eyes.

"Uwah!" Nell wailed, blinking her eyes. Her eyes focused on the projection. "N-no..." Nell muttered as, in a matter of moments, her mind went blank, the spiral creeping deeper within her consciousness.

Black Hole is everything... Black Hole is the only thing...

Black Hole is all you need...

Become one with Black Hole...

"Black Hole..." Nell muttered. As Nell's mind went blank, so did her body, going slack as if her very soul disappeared in a matter of moments. Her body trembled and tickled in anticipation, and partly in excitement. She was a good commander. She would be an excellent Black Hole soldier. Part of her was excited for her blank mind to be filled with new knowledge, to better serve as a capable Black Hole commander.

BOOM!!! But before Nell could fall too deeper into a catatonic trance, the room rumbled with an explosion.

What was that? Ugh, and we were getting to the best part! Security forces, what's your status- [KZRRT!]

Lash's shrill voice was cut short over the intercom as the hypnotic feed went dark. Nell blinked her eyes, sensation returning to her as the awareness of her own body was restored. She tensed and relaxed her hands.

"What was... that?" Nell muttered. She didn't have long to think until the door into the room slammed open, and two Orange Star soldiers bolted through the door.

"Commander! It's Nell! She's here!" One of them called out.

Special Forces Commander Sami filed in behind them, toting her trademark rifle. "Lash must be nearby! Check out the backroom!"

"Yes ma'am!" They shouted in unison and hurried towards the back. Nell blinked as Sami rushed to her rescue.

"Sorry for the wait, Commander!" Sami undid Nell's restraints. "We got held up by poor visibility getting to your position... are you okay?"

Nell nodded. "Thanks for the tactical search and rescue, Sami!" Nell nodded.

One of the soldiers emerged from the back room. "Commander! CO Lash is nowhere to be found! There was a secret passage left behind!"

"Get after her, then!" Sami hollered. "Why are you running your mouth at me!? Don't let her get away!"

The two soldiers hurried off as Sami helped Nell to her feet.

"Well, on the bright side..." Sami explained. "We found the Black Hole secret lab! There must be all sorts of special blueprints here!"

Nell beamed. "I knew I could count on you. Once the advance party has scoured this lab for anything useful that isn't bolted to the ground, we can return to Black Hole HQ and pore through everything, piece by piece.

"...Uh, Black Hole HQ, ma'am?" Sami blinked.

Nell flattened her mouth, raising her hand to her chin. "O-oh dear, the mental programming is a little persistent, isn't it? Hm what to do... oh, Sami, that rifle you're carrying!"

"Y-yes?" Sami clutched the rifle close to her chest.

"Can you, uh, maybe knock some sense into me? Just with the butt of it." Nell nodded.

"Uh... uhhhhh..." Sami wasn't sure if Nell was alright in the head. Though she supposed Black Hole's nefarious reprogramming was certainly effective.

"Okay, hold still ma'am!" Sami cried, raising her rifle and thrusting the back side of it, square in Nell's face. Maybe with more oomph than she would've liked. Nell was sent over a nearby desk, tumbling over it, her heels kicking upwards as she crumpled to the floor,

"ACK! COMMANDER!?" Sami scrambled to check up on Nell. "Oooooooomigosh I'm gonna get super court-martialed for this...!"

Nell opened her eyes, raising a hand to rub her bruised right ride. She smirked.

"Bingo! All better!" Nell beamed. "Thank you for your dutiful service, Sami!"

"U-uh... s-sure. No problem." Sami smiled weakly. "Never a dull moment in Orange Star special forces..."