Time flew by as Fortunata - real name Elise - and Lucky infodumped at each other about their favorite scenes, favorite pairings. Elise filled her in on what was happening with Kione (very good, very fucked up, very on brand for Kallie) and Lucky listened on in rapt attention.

"What, uh...what was your first?" Lucky eventually asked. When Elise winged up an eyebrow, Lucky added "...mechsploitation story, I mean!" in a spluttered rush.

"WARHOUND is what everyone wants to hear whenever people ask," Elise shrugged, "so...WARHOUND."

"The OG! Mine was a, uh...okay, promise you won't laugh?"

Elise shrugged, best as she could while strapped to the machine.

"Alright, so...it was SWORDCURSED." SWORDCURSED was niche, even for mechsploitation - a Gothic romantic fantasy retelling of WARHOUND more akin to a sapphic Brontë novel than kinky mecha smut. It was smart, it was funny, it had ten hits on AO3.

Elise's lips quirked into a slight smile before they flattened again. "Never heard of it, but it must be super embarrassing!"

"Y-yeah. It is. It's stupid, but...I dunno. There's only so many trans girls you can read about getting bad ended before you want something different for women like us, y'know?"

Elise scoffed. "Hey, I could be a cis woman!"

"Pfft. Yeah, right. The only cis woman in mechsploitation is, like...Jax Romana." Lucky's eyes went wide. "You're not--"

"No."

"Dammit. I really wanted to know what happens to Pumpkin Mutt next."

"Same. Shore Leave was so good and now I gotta know!"

"So, you're trans, too, huh?"

"Yeah. Shit's like catnip to us, I guess."

"Mmmm. Who would've guessed that a story written by a trans woman hitting a bunch of themes that resonate with the trans experience would be popular with trans women!"

"Yeah."

"And then we got properly isekai'd into it."

"Yeah. Wild. You died?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Oh, violently."

"Bummer."

"One perk of this shit show, I guess, is the free medical transition."

"Oh my god, right? Like, sucks that I'm bound to a device designed to take away my free will, but on the other hand? Free bottom surgery!"

"...says some stuff about the real world, huh?"

"Yup!"

Then, for the first time in the past forty minutes, neither of them had much more to add. A long moment beat by before Lucky blew out a sigh.

"...anyway, I guess I gotta mindbreak you, right?"

"Wait, what? Why?!" Elise thrashed against the bindings.

"Well, it's a convention of the genre! I mean, look!" Lucky gestured to a syringe filled with green fluid sitting a small rolling cart. "That's literally Starlight right there!"

"So?! How about you get in the Egoblaster 9000! Why don't we fry your brain?" Elise said, tone harsh.

Lucky's heart skipped a beat. She shouldn't. A Handler? Getting mindbroken? By a pilot? It'd violate all of the conventions of the genre! It'd be so wrong. So...meta. It was so hot.

It was then that she felt it. Not just insistent, needy heat pulsing through her nethers, but wetness between her legs. The realization sent a blissful sense of gender euphoria blazing through her because holy fuck she was wet. She'd thought it was an exaggeration, but nope! God, she really wanted to give into what Elise was suggesting, but she couldn't! She wouldn't!

Panicking, she glanced over at the machine to which Elise was strapped.

"...holy shit," Lucky whispered.

"What?"

"Uh. Well, you were right about the brand name!" There, emblazoned in all caps - because obviously - was the word EGOBLASTER.

"You're kidding."

"Nope! But I guess this is the...Delta Chi model?" Next to EGOBLASTER were the Greek letters ΔΧ. "Does that mean this is the... EGOBLASTER Deluxe?"

"Fuck, that's super embarrassing if it is."

"What? Why?"

"Nobody ever puts 'Deluxe' or 'DX' on a product if it's actually a deluxe product. I was against this before just from an 'I'm a sadistic top, unhand me this instant' perspective, but now I'm opposed morally. I refuse to get brainwashed by some bullshit mid-tier brainwashing device."

Lucky felt something in her rebel against Elise's haughty tone. "No."

"What?"

She circled around to face Elise. It should've been her strapped to a table, true. She'd dreamt about it enough. About how wonderful it'd feel to have her personality stripped from her and remade. Now, though, staring down at the woman helpless to resist, she wanted...something else.

"I'm really sorry, Elise. Like, we both knew that this wasn't gonna end up with us not going through some fucked up shit, right?"

"You're serious."

Lucky nodded, bracing for Elise to scream and beg. Instead, Elise rolled her eyes.

"At least tell me it's from a decent brand."

"What?"

"The machine. Is it at least, uh...reputably evil?"

Lucky circled back around to look at the machine. "Uhhh...there's a logo, I think?"

"What does it look like?"

"It's a blue triangle with one of the sides pointed down, with, like...an arrow cutting through it?"

"O-oh?"

"You know it?" Lucky craned her head around to peer at Elise.

Elise shook her head.

"...are you sure?"

"Yeah. Totally. Anyway, it's clearly not a brand either of us recognize so we should--"

Lucky turned on the machine. "Why don't I believe you?" The monitor bank lit up with a strange assortment of images.

"What?! Why would I lie?!" Elise squirmed against the bonds. The sight triggered something in Lucky and a horrible grin slid across her countenance.

"Oh my god. Oh Elise, I'm sorry, uh...I was doing it just to tease, but...ahaha, oh this is wild." Lucky circled around from behind the machine, her hand landing on the bank of monitors.

"Um. You should know that I've always been a submissive."

She pushed the bank of monitors forward, clicking into place mere inches from Elise's face.

"Like, never thought I'd want to do anything to anyone." She picked up the Starlight from the table.

"Especially not anything this fucked up." She gave the needle a practiced tap.

"It's you, though. Seeing you trying to fight, I just can't help but wanna break you." She climbed on top of Elise, straddling her.

"I'm gonna get off while I'm doing it, too. I'm sorry. I guess mechsploitation does mess with your brain because that's pretty messed up, right?"

Lucky was panting, breathing labored. She held the syringe in her hands. Somehow, she knew exactly where to plunge it in.

"I could tell you what company it is." Elise whined as she squirmed again. But it seemed different this time, like she didn't want to break out. Instead it felt like she was squirming to get closer to Lucky. To really feel the weight and pressure of Lucky's body against her own.

Lucky's hand groped her own tit. "Fuck. This body is so sensitive. I'd never been this sensitive ahaha it's a wonder Handler-General Kestrel ever gets anything done!" Lucky paused, brow furrowing. "...does that make me an autogynephile?"

"That's discredited anti-trans bullshit," Elise fired back. "You should know better than that."

"I mean, I read some stuff on /tttt/ that--"

"Jesus fuck I'm gonna get brainwashed by a 4chan trans girl? Ugh. Why couldn't you have just learned about being trans like the rest of us: by stumbling upon sissy hypno and then making a tumblr account!"

"...I feel like you're universalizing a specific experience." Lucky didn't know how she knew to palpate Elise's jugular vein, but she did. Poor thing. Pulse racing. Must be scared.

"Anyway, uh...I'm gonna inject you with Starlight now." Elise let out a whimper as the needle slid into her neck. Lucky shuddered as she depressed the plunger. Elise's face slackened.

"Fuuuuck. Elise, you look so dumb like this ahaha...h-how does it feel?"

Lucky tried not to pant, tried not to let her hand slide down into her pants as Elise let out some blissful, totally blanked out moans. She failed on both counts.

"C'mon, Elise. Talk to me. I-I can't be the one getting mindbroken, s-so I - hnnmg - gotta live vicariously through you."

"It's...so pretty...the patterns. Had my...theories...I can feel it working...changing things..."

Lucky rubbed at herself, unskilled at how to pleasure her new anatomy and yet so aroused it hardly mattered. She was so close. This was almost everything she'd ever wanted, combined with something new and twisted that she'd never considered could be hers. She could feel the first wave of her orgasm about to crest as she--

"Lucky...that was mean..." Elise pouted, her voice still dazed. The crestfallen tone of her voice stole away the heat that had been about to burst through Lucky.

"Wh-what?"

"Brainwashing me...was mean."

"You're brainwashed?"

Elise gave a dumb, wobbly grin. "Yeah," she said. The word was breathy, barely there, more an exhalation than anything else.

"But...if I brainwashed you, then shouldn't you be...I dunno. A...a..."

"Didn't...tell me...I was..."

"O-oh, uh...b-be a hound?"

"I'll...try, but...uh...I-I don't see the other me inside myself like in the- I...I'm...oh no." Elise sobered. "I'm sorry, Lucky."

And then she spasmed. Hard. Her head pitched forward and cracked against the bank of monitors. It swung away and Lucky could see the gash it left in her forehead. Elise bucked beneath her hard enough that Lucky careened to the side before clattering to the floor.

"FUCKING WHO ARE YOU? WHERE AM I?!" Elise yelled, furious. Lucky jumped to her feet.

"Whoa, hey. Elise, it's--"

"Who the FUCK is Elise?"

"Y-you?"

She narrowed her eyes, disdain dripping from her. "Fortunata Higgs. Corporal 1st Class. Pilot number 33465. You're not gonna break me, you sick fuck."

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