As the campus tour group passed her office door, Cecelia's eyes flicked up with a combination of irritation and anticipation. "Excuse me," she called out as she opened her door. "Could I interrupt for just a moment? My assistant tells me that Hector Jones joined the tour after it started here earlier?"

A handsome, dark-haired young man seemed startled to hear his name called, but quickly recovered and raised his hand while walking toward her. "I'm Hector. Is there something I can do for you, ma'am?" he asked.

Cecelia sized him up approvingly as she shook his hand and led him into her office. He would do. He would definitely do. "Ah, Mr. Jones. It's more like what I can do for you. I'm Cecelia Metz, Chancellor of the Cebeld Graduate School. I wanted to pull you out of the tour for a moment to discuss your application since we didn't get a chance earlier." She gestured at an overstuffed club chair facing her desk and perched daintily on the edge of her desk facing him.

Hector seemed shocked, but also pleased as he settled into the chair. "Umm, you read my application personally? Wow, I'm flattered, given the massive number of applications Cebeld receives each year!"

Cecelia nodded and smiled broadly at Hector, leaning forward to clasp both of the prospective student's hands. "We take our admissions decisions very seriously, Mr. Jones. And I regard you as a very serious candidate for this year's entering class." Cecelia said with enthusiasm.

Hector felt his pulse accelerate and his face flush with embarrassment as he realized he had been staring directly at the her cleavage, and stammered, "I'm grateful to even be considered. Everyone I've talked to has raved about Cebeld. Your school is amazing!" Hector enthused.

Cecelia nodded approvingly, saying, "That's gratifying to hear, of course. Despite its stellar reputation, Cebeld was actually on the brink of bankruptcy when I was appointed Chancellor several years ago. Fortunately, we've been able to turn things around," Cecelia continued modestly.

Hector surprised himself with the intensity of his response, gushing, "Oh, you've done more than just turn things around... You have the highest Fortune 500 placement of any institution and your graduates are at the top ranks everywhere. You've restored Cebeld's reputation as being the golden ticket into the leadership of the country, and people have really noticed."

Cecelia laughed and lightly touched Hector's arm as she passed by him to sit down at her desk, causing him to give an involuntary gasp and shudder, adding to the redness of his face. "Thank you, Mr. Jones. We have worked diligently to place our graduates where they can do the most good in society. But of course, part of what helps us do that is making sure we are admitting the best possible students into the school. Obviously all of our applicants have excelled at whatever college they attended before, but we are looking for students who are the right fit to thrive within the parameters of what we do here. I know you already discussed this a bit in one of your application essays, but can you give me more of a sense of why you think Cebeld is a good fit for you?" she continued, fixing him with a polite--but stern--gaze.

Hector wilted a bit under the intensity of her gaze, but took a deep breath and rallied himself, explaining, "Well, part of it comes from talking with some of your graduates--especially the recent ones. All of them--without exception--credited Cebeld for their initial and continued success. My cousin Louis is actually one of your recent graduates and sang your praises to the heavens. He basically told me he'd kill me if I didn't at least apply. He was very persuasive!"

Cecelia smiled and laughed again, and Hector was a little shocked at how happy it made him feel. She nodded and said, "Yes, our curriculum certainly emphasizes applied persuasion here. It's a hallmark of our graduates. Actually..." she said as she tapped her computer screen, "Louis was quite persuasive when he personally recommended you as a top prospect for this year's entering class."

Hector was stunned and flustered for a moment, then said, "Wait, I didn't ask Louis to write a recommendation letter. He's my cousin, after all. You should have received them from two of my professors at State and also one of my former bosses..." Cecelia cut Hector off with a tut-tut and finger waggle as she returned to her feet and walked around the desk toward him.

"Mr. Jones, when we choose to admit a student into our hallowed halls, it is because we have done our due diligence," she said, tapping Hector's knee for emphasis. Hector gave a sharp intake of breath and adjusted his seating position uncomfortably as the intimidating Chancellor seemed to fill all of his senses with her presence.

"Yes, yes, your professional recommendations were excellent, but as you said before, we receive thousands of outstanding applications that all look basically the same. Because almost everyone who is offered admission to Cebeld accepts, we must be absolutely certain to choose our students wisely. So we make sure we dig beneath the surface of the file and try to really get inside the applicant's head. Which is why recommendation's like Louis' are so important for us, and..." she said, leaning even closer to Hector's increasingly confused and disoriented face, "that's why I personally meet each and every student we are considering admitting to the program," she said, running her finger along Hector's jawline.

Hector was stunned at her words and especially from the unexpectedly intimate physical contact. "Wait..." he said dazedly, "I don't understand... how many... wait, did you meet..."

Cecelia smiled and pressed her finger to Hector's lips, stopping his question abruptly and causing him to give a small gasp as his eyes widened and then began to drift slowly shut.

"Louis was right. You are truly something special, Mr. Jones! I'm so glad we got a chance to meet after all, even if this was a little ad hoc. I actually interviewed all of the other students in your group before the tour." she explained.

"They were very receptive to learning about their potential place at Cebeld," she said.

"Very receptive, indeed." She said, smiling as she thought about the earlier "interviews" and glanced at Hector's increasingly placid face.

She continued as she moved behind Hector. "You see, part of what makes Cebeld so successful is our tight-knit community. Some places talk about fostering it, but we deliver."

Cecelia watched approvingly as Hector's head slowly lowered and his chin began to rest on his chest. "Every member of our community has an unshakeable faith in their fellow students and alumni. They know they can trust the other members of the community completely."

Hector murmured "Trust... completely..." Cecelia gently reached around to cup Hector's chin and began to slowly roll his head back and forth as he slumped down further in boneless relaxation in the overstuffed chair.

"Very good, Hector! You are really beginning to fit in perfectly!" she said enthusiastically, causing Hector to gasp in pleasure at receiving her praise. "I have an excellent insight into such things, in part because I know I can trust all of my students to tell me the truth. So when Louis recommended you to me as an ideal candidate, I knew I could trust what he said. Luis could never lie to his mistress, of course."

Hector gave a faint groan as Cecelia said the word "mistress," which pleased her. "Because he knew he could trust me, Louis told me about all of your qualifications, including the ones you failed to mention in your own application, Hector. Or should I say, 'Starling?'" Cecelia continued smugly.

A faint frown flashed briefly across Hector's face, but he almost immediately reverted to his blank, mesmerized expression as she continued to roll his head back and forth. "Good, good, I'm glad to see you are still super relaxed." She gave a dry chuckle. "I've been doing this for a while now, but I've never entranced a super before... well, sidekick, actually." Hector again had a flicker of a frown begin to develop across his features, but it almost immediately vanished as she rocked his head slowly back and forth.

"Normally my entrancement takes only a few seconds after initial physical contact, and a couple more touches will take down the most willful candidates. But you, Hector... you held out for nearly four minutes before you fell. You really are super!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.

Hector beamed at her praise as she continued to massage the sides of his head. She nodded with satisfaction at his subdued compliance and carefully stepped back from Hector's chair. "Now Hector--or shall I say Starling--I want you to open your eyes and tell me I am your mistress. Tell me you are my slave. Tell me you will obey me in all things. Remember that you can never lie to your mistress, so this will be an unbreakable bond. It will be your whole truth. Your whole purpose."

Hector's blank, milky eyes fluttered open as his street clothing transformed into his Starling costume. He groggily said, "You are our mistress. We are your slaves. We will obey you in all things."

Cecelia cocked her eyebrow in mild confusion, but smiled as she stroked Starling's chin. "Again," she said, "with feeling this time."

Hector took a deep breath and said with more passion, "You are our mistress. We are your slaves. We will obey you in all things." Hector continued chanting in almost orgasmic bliss, "You are our mistress! We are your slaves! We will obey you in all things!"

Cecelia nodded approvingly, but still looked confused. "Umm, Starling? That's wonderful. Much appreciated." Hector again shuddered at her praise before she continued, "But who exactly do you mean when you say, 'we'?"

Hector stared at her with blank eyes and say, "I mean both of us are your slaves. The superior being and my human host, Hector. We will obey you in all things!"

Cecelia stopped stroking Hector's chin and muttered quietly, "What the actual fuck?"

-----------

Starling continued to smile and stare blankly as their mistress paced back and forth, gesticulating wildly as she talked on the phone. "What possible motivation would I have to make something like this up?" she hissed. After a pause and several deep breaths, she continued placatingly, "Okay, okay. That's fair. Yes, I can see your point. But..." Cecelia trailed off and moved the phone away from her ear as indistinct shouting poured forth for several seconds. "Listen to me. No, LISTEN TO ME!" Cecelia shouted. "Starling has been singing like a bird...oh..." Cecelia clasped the bridge of her nose in irritation as there was more yelling coming from the phone.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. That wasn't intentional. I AM taking this seriously willyoujustshutupforasecond! Now according to Starling the aliens have controlled the League for MONTHS. What? No, ALL of the League. They've been rolling up the military--remember all those mysterious base lockdowns?--and now they're trying to control the entire government and the news media." Cecelia paused briefly as the caller peppered her with more questions. "No, not yet, but they seem to be well on their way." Cecelia rolled her eyes as the caller again squawked suspiciously.

"How do I know? Because the cute little fucker showed up here with a trunkload of his little parasitic friends. Apparently his plan was to infest our alumni director and then have a parasite party at our big winter alumni event this week.... What?... No, I wasn't the target. He confirmed that they didn't even know about me or my powers or... Actually, from what I can tell from my little birdie, they don't appear to have compromised any of the supervillains from the Hall of Doom..." Cecelia paused as there was more jabbering and interrupting. "Yeah, I know...but... But...Dammit, whether or not you believe me, if we don't do something soon they'll control everyone and everything." She listened and grimaced and shook her head. "I'll bring the proof; don't you worry about that. You just need to help me assemble our team... if we Doomers are ever going to take over the world, we're going to have to save it from these slimy alien bastards first!"