Some time following the downfall of the Tsviets, peace had returned to the Planet. One day, Tifa Lockhart, Yuffie Kisaragi and the recently revived Aerith Gainsborough had been hired by Rufus Shinra to search a Shinra facility that had been abandoned during the evacuations caused by Meteor four years earlier. There were rumours pertaining to secret research projects at the facility. None of the rumours could agree on what was actually being researched, ranging from experimental weapons to artificial materia to human cloning.
The girls didn't think much of the rumours since most people on the planet hated Shinra and nasty rumours about them were commonplace. The girls only took an interest when news of monster attacks in the area around the facility reached their ears. They got together and set out to stop the attacks and decided to search the facility while they were there.
It was unlikely there would be anything there since the Turks would surely have been sent in to recover or destroy any such research. Then again, perhaps, since the facility was now crawling with monsters, it might have been deemed too risky to enter the facility. The girls, on the other hand, had no trouble with the monsters; they had worked their way up through the facility on their own in no time. They didn't even need the boys for help on this one. Not that they could have come anyway: Cloud was busy with his delivery job, Red XIII was spending time with his clan, Cid was doing maintenance on the airship, no one knew what Barrett was up to these days and Vincent was, well, Vincent.
Tifa was dressed in her black, leather tank overtop a slightly longer, white tank top; black leather skort, the back of which reached the floor; black, leather gloves and black and white shoes. Aerith wore her favourite pink dress and maroon overcoat with a new wristband that looked like coiled wire, a loose lilac belt around her waist and her usual brown boots. Yuffie wore a green tube top with two blue belts holding it up, tan short-shorts with another blue belt around her waist, white thigh-high socks, mesh sleeves on her arms that disappeared into fingerless orange gloves, orange shoes, a yellow scarf and a metal headband with two green tassels.
They finally reached the site manager's office since there was likely some documentation pertaining to any research that was conducted here. Tifa and Aerith searched through the filing cabinets while Yuffie shot straight for the desk and began rifling through the drawers.
"Yuffie, what are you doing?" Tifa asked after looking up from the cabinet.
"Isn't it obvious?" the loud-mouthed ninja replied while throwing out random objects. "I'm searching for things I can take."
"You know, you really shouldn't steal," Aerith piped up from her cabinet. "It's going to get you into a lot of trouble one of these days."
"Relax. We all know I can handle anything that comes my way! Besides, it's not stealing; this place was abandoned so it's finder's keepers."
Tifa couldn't help but agree with Aerith. Yuffie really would get into trouble some day and Sephiroth had proven that some things wouldn't be easy to defeat, even with a party as powerful and crazy as theirs. As she thought this, Tifa noticed something by her feet that Yuffie had discarded. It was a golden pocket watch. She picked it up and stared at it. It was very shiny and looked brand new despite having been left in a drawer for four years and thrown across the room.
Aerith noticed Tifa holding a pocket watch in her hands and recalled seeing a file about it before and quickly went back to find it. She took it out and showed it to Tifa after skimming over it. It was titled "Pocket Controller". The file contained detailed notes about a device that was designed to coerce locals to give up their homes through use of magic so that Shinra could build Mako Reactors and research facilities over them. It was designed to look mundane so as not to draw attention when it was used. The last entry claimed that they had almost perfected it when the evacuation had occurred. Judging by the monsters around the facility and the fact that the watch was still here seemed to suggest everyone who knew about the project was killed while trying to leave.
Tifa stared at the watch, thinking. This device could control people's minds and, while designed to prevent needless bloodshed, was still a device for evil. She had to destroy- "OW!" she exclaimed as a book struck her on the side of the head.
"Sorry!" Yuffie called from across the room. Tifa's rage came to a boil. It seemed that 'some day' was today and Tifa was going to be the one to punish Yuffie. As Aerith healed her wound, Tifa clenched her fist...or tried as she felt the watch in her hand. A smirk crept onto her face as she got a brilliant idea. Facing Aerith, she motioned towards Yuffie with her head and held up the watch. Aerith stared for a second then seem to understand as she nodded and the two crept over to Yuffie.
Yuffie looked up as they approached. "What's up, guys? Did you find anything?" Tifa showed her the file and she sat on the desk to read it. Of course, this was just a distraction so Aerith could creep up behind her. Aerith grabbed her arms and held them behind her back. "Hey! What are you doing!?" Yuffie cried out in fear.
"I'm sorry, Yuffie, this is for your own good," Tifa replied and held up the watch and began to swing it in front of her eyes. Yuffie's eyes were drawn to the watch as if it had some sort of hold over her. From what little she'd read from the file before being grabbed, she'd gathered that the watch was created to evict people from their homes by taking their free will away. It looked liked Tifa was trying to do the same to her. But why? Because of the book she accidentally hit her with? She said she was sorry.
"Just focus your eyes on the watch," Tifa told her in a soothing tone of voice. "Follow it as it swings back and forth. Back and forth." Yuffie couldn't look away from it no matter how hard she tried. She tried to close her eyes but Aerith pried them open and forced her to face it. She couldn't believe her friends would do this to her. "Notice how the light reflects off the watch's surface. Isn't it pretty?" She couldn't deny that it was quite pretty. Had she always felt that way or was it because Tifa said so? Somehow, it didn't matter. All that mattered was the watch. The pretty golden watch. She watched it swing back and forth with her eyes, her head staying still.
"As you watch it go back and forth, notice how your eyelids are growing heavy. So heavy, you can barely keep them open. But you must keep them open and continue to follow the watch." Yuffie had to strain to keep her eyes open. She wanted so much to continue following the watch. "Just let your worries melt away and relax your body." She felt that the watch was inviting her to a place where she could be free of her duties and worries. A place she could relax and be happy. "Now notice how you are getting very sleepy. So sleepy, your eyelids refuse to stay open any longer. And when you close your eyes, you will fall into a deep sleep where all you will hear is my voice." Yuffie's eyes were too heavy to resist and she allowed them to close, falling into a deep sleep.
As soon as Yuffie's head dropped, Tifa knew she had her. She was amazed it had actually worked. It looked like this thing was the real deal. She was about to start reprogramming Yuffie when she noticed that Aerith was no longer holding Yuffie's arms. Then she noticed that, like Yuffie, Aerith's eyes were closed and her head was slumped. She must have accidentally hypnotized Aerith as well. She'd been so focused on Yuffie that she hadn't noticed Aerith at all. She'd just have to wake Aerith up before reprogramming Yuffie to avoid her commands affecting both of them. Then she realised: both were under. She could do whatever she wanted with them and no one would ever know. Least of all, them.
Tifa found the prospect of controlling Yuffie too good to resist, especially after being hit in the head with a book by her. She began to think of all the embarrassing things she could make Yuffie do. But first, she had to test that they both really were under her control and not just faking it to catch her out. "Okay, girls," she said in a confident tone, "stand up." Both girls got down from the desk and stood, Yuffie in front of the desk and Aerith behind it. "Open your eyes." They opened them halfway, looking sleepy and spaced out.
"Alright. Now, you are both chocobos." The pair immediately placed their hands into their armpits to form wings and began flapping them. They walked around the room, pecking at the floor and making a 'Kweh' sound. Tifa was surprised at how much like real chocobos they sounded. "Freeze," Tifa commanded. At her command, both girls froze exactly as they were: Aerith bent low to the ground, one leg in the air and Yuffie on one leg looking up as if she'd heard something.
"Stand at attention." They slowly placed their feet on the ground, lowered their arms to their sides and stood up straight. "Hold out your arms in front of yourselves like sleepwalkers." They did so. "Walk around the room like that." Tifa giggled at the sight of her friends sleepwalking around the room. "Freeze." Again, they froze in place as they were walking past each other. Tifa walked over to them and tried to lower Aerith's arm. It was stiff as a board. She tried the same with Yuffie with the same result. These two were really into it.
"You are unable to move by yourselves but I can pose you as I wish." She tried to lower Aerith's arm and it worked this time. She place Aerith right hand on her hip, made her face her left, placed her left hand in her hair and propped her right foot up on its tiptoes. All she needed was the wind blowing in her hair and maybe a summer hat and the image would be complete. She posed Yuffie with her hands on her hips and her torso tilted forward with one eye closed and her lips puckered.
After having her posing fun, which involved a lot of walking around them, Tifa sat on the desk to rest her feet. She kicked off her shoes and used her big toes to remove her socks. The cool air felt great on her bare feet. She wished she had someone around to massage them. She slapped her forehead. Of course, she did have someone to do that. "Stand at attention." Again both girls went from their frozen poses to standing at attention.
"Come here and rub my feet." They walked robotically to their mistress, Aerith taking her left foot in her hands and Yuffie taking her right. They began to rub them as commanded and Tifa immediately felt better. It was so good, in fact, that one could easily get the impression they'd done this before. After about five minutes she felt it was time to finish up. "Put my socks back on." They each picked up a sock from the floor and pulled it up their respective foot. "Now the shoes." They picked up the shoes and placed them on her feet too.
"Return to your positions from when you entered your trances," Tifa commanded while getting down from the desk. They did so and Tifa was surprised at how exact they were. "Okay. Aerith, when I snap my fingers, you will awaken but you will not remember being hypnotized. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Aerith replied in a monotone voice which Tifa found quite disturbing. Regardless, she snapped her fingers and Aerith's eyes opened fully. She looked down at the entranced Yuffie and asked, "Did it work?"
"Looks that way," Tifa replied. "Alright, time to get to work." Aerith got down from the desk as Tifa thought out how to cover up Yuffie's hypnosis. "Yuffie, walk back to the drawers."
As Yuffie obeyed, Aerith stared in amazement. "Wow! It really did work. So what now?"
"We need to make her forget all of this to make sure she doesn't try to turn this against us. Yuffie, when I snap my fingers, you will awaken but you will forget everything that happened after you hit me with the book. You will also lose your compulsion to steal things unless absolutely necessary. Do you understand?"
"Yes," she replied in a monotone similar to Aerith's.
"Th-that's unnatural," Aerith stuttered. She was right; Tifa found it more disturbing than Aerith's monotone. Likely because Yuffie was usually so full of energy while Aerith was often quite quiet.
"Yeah. Come on, we need to get back into our positions too." The pair returned to the filing cabinets. Tifa place a hand where the book had struck her and snapped her fingers with her other hand.
"Sorry!" Yuffie called just as she had done the first time. While Aerith healed her again to sell the deception, Yuffie had an expression like she had just seen something disgusting and lost her appetite. She closed the drawers and returned to her friends, opening a filing cabinet and searching.
"What's wrong Yuffie?" Tifa asked, trying to sound concerned.
"Oh, I just...don't have the drive to steal anymore," she replied sounding a little sad, like she had just lost something important.
"Well, cheer up!" Aerith said as cheerfully as she could. "At least now, we don't have to worry about you getting into trouble." She smiled at the young ninja, who smiled back and hugged her in response. From then on Yuffie Kisaragi, the Great Materia Thief, only stole when she needed to and her friends didn't need to worry about her stealing getting her into trouble.