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It was as though her eyelids were as heavy as lead. She didn't want to open them, to disturb the blissful oblivion that unconsciousness brought her. Warning bells were ringing inside her head, but she paid them no heed. Whatever was bothering her, could be dealt with later...
And then she remembered. Shopping for food alone. Seeing a Dai Li lookalike. Chasing them throughout the Lower Ring. She felt bad for the Cabbage Merchant. And last but definitely not least in the slightest, was her heading into an alleyway, and then flying into the dead end... and the pain exploding within her head... and then blackness.
Processing all of this, she shot her eyes open and jerked her head up - at least, she tried to move her head, but was obstructed by something. As soon as was aware of her surroundings and had took stock of her situation, she began to struggle, trying to free herself from her restraints.
A circlet of miniature rocks held her head to a chair. Her wrists and ankles were encased in shells of hard earth, and were shackled to the chair. She would have considered her pose as one of a regal queen if she wasn't struggling to get herself off the throne she was strapped to.
In her immense frustration at her foolishness, her helplessness, and her predicament, she inadvertently grunted out in exertion, alerting whoever was detaining her that she was wide awake and aware of her surroundings. She cursed herself. She had gotten too soft after the war was ended, and it was proving to be her downfall. She strained her eyes, unable to make anything further than her hands.
Suddenly, she was blinded by a harsh glare, and she slammed her eyes shut and desperately tried to turn her face away from the source - in vain. Her head was restricted of movement by the primitive tiara placed on her head. Spots exploded in her eyes as she scrunched up her eyes to protect her sensitive pupils as best she could. As she slowly adjusted to the light, she gradually opened her eyes to find herself in front of a lamp of bright yellow light. And behind the light, she saw a man in Dai Li clothing. Wait. Her eyes widened as she realized she was looking at a real Dai Li Agent.
Her eyes widened. It couldn't be...
With a screech, the lamp slowly began to move, and revolve in a circle, traveling tantalizingly close to Katara, and then fading away as it moved to the back of the room. Katara squeezed her eyes shut, certain that she was in a nightmare.
Except the nightmare had been realized in life. And no matter how fervently she wished, no matter how hard she tried, her plight remained all too real as the weight of the situation hit her.
"There is no unrest within the walls. Here we are safe. Here we are free..."
"St-st-stop it!" Katara frantically stammered. "Shut up! It's not true! I don't know why or how you guys are still here, but you need to be taken down! Let me go or I will make you regret that you ever existed!"
Poor choice of words. She really needed to relearn how to act in tight situations. Any slim chance of her escape went out the window - if there was even a window in this life-forsaken place. The Dai Li Agent only smiled thinly, and simply repeated his mindless mantra. "There is no unrest within the walls. Here we are safe. Here we are free."
"Stop it, you rubble-brained bastard!" Katara shouted. "You won't break me! You can't! You won't!" she desperately tried in vain to fight what was in store for her, the horror she was about to enter...
"My will is too strong," Katara said through grit teeth. "You can't rein me in, you little -"
But the Dai Li Agent simply repeated his monotonous phrase over and over again. And as time progressed, Katara delved into more and more explicit curses until finally the Agent had enough and gagged her with a piece of cloth, and she was limited to indignant grunts over her humiliation and mental torture. At least she got to him with her insults. Apparently, the Agent had a breaking point.
But unfortunately, so did she.
Katara could only pray that they would never reach it.
Finally, Kong turned off the lamp, hunched over in defeat. He had failed. His Firelord was counting on him, and he failed. He would never recover from this shame...
Xi walked into the indoctrination room, and stepped to his comrade. "How is the process going, Kong?"
The other Agent, his junior in both age in rank, merely shook his head. "It is not going well, Xi. She is stronger than most. I do not know if I will even be able to get through to her, much less indoctrinate her."
"Mmmf!" came the muffled sound from the Watertribe Girl they had captured. Kong walked up to the girl. She was rather beautiful... and strong-willed. All the better. Kong loved these people. They thought they were so high and mighty. But eventually, all bowed down to the whims of their master.
Kong grinned greedily at the girl - Katara, he remembered. Oh, yes, the Avatar's lover. How perfect. "Not to worry, Kong. Everything is alright. Perhaps she just needs a little bit more... conditioning. Now... I will show you a technique that is reserved for Agents of the highest rank - useful against even the most stalwart of inductees. Do not fret, young woman. When we are finished with you, you won't have any worry in the world, and no qualms about blindly obeying our every command."
Katara could do nothing but glare at Xi, and Xi was certain that without the gag, the girl would have spat on him - if she wasn't able to bite him. Feisty and spirited. Of course, even with those of the most vibrant personalities, they were all broken down in the end, mindlessly serving their new masters.
He chuckled in wry amusement at the bravado of the girl. Clearly, she would have to be snapped out of her own little bubble of naive fantasy. He leaned over menacingly. "Such a beautiful, fine young woman, with a strong spirit to match. It is a pity that we must tamper with such a perfect specimen. But do not worry, you will not feel a thing - if you even remember in the first place."
The lady glared at Xi with molten hatred, but he noticed to his satisfaction that his words had their intended effect, and that the lady's face had lost its color.
With that last looming statement, he walked over to a panel on the side, and flicked some levers. When he had adjusted the settings to his satisfaction, he walked over to his subordinate.
"Now, see here," Xi said to his subordinate, making sure Katara caught his every word. "Strong-willed people may be able to resist or even overcome normal indoctrination techniques. However, everyone's spirit may be broken - the Avatar's excepted. But once those strong-spirited people finally fall... they become the most loyal, dedicated servants to their new cause. And their strong wills keep them under control much more easily than a normal person. Now," Xi said, gesturing to his side. "Step aside, Kong. And watch closely." He took the place where Kong had been standing, and began the process of indoctrinating Katara for good.
The room now ebbed with the sound of a person breathing deeply, in, out, in, out. The lamp's light began to wax and wane with the inhale and exhale of the breathing. The lamp began to move once more. Xi turned his attention to Katara. "Now, young lady... breathe in with the room. And breath out with the room. Breathe in, breathe out. In, out. In, out. In..."
Xi noticed to his satisfaction that Katara had begun to mechanically inhale and exhale in sync with the room, if only unconsciously. Taming a will this strong required many, many steps of deconstruction.
But that made the reconstruction all the more rewarding and all the more permanent.
The Dai Li Agent said, "Now, watch the lamp as it approaches you and recedes into darkness. Notice how it brightens and fades with your breathing..."
Katara glared at the Agents, although with less fervor than before. She chalked it up to her weariness. Everyone gets tired after long periods of exertion. There was simply no way that she could be broken. She hated those agents with all her heart.
"Now, young lady... breathe in with the room. And breath out with the room. Breathe in, breathe out. In, out. In, out. In..."
She did just as he said, but only because it was so easy to. The simulated breathing was so loud and so overwhelming that she wouldn't have been able to oppose it no matter how hard she tried.
"Now, watch the lamp as it approaches you and recedes into darkness. Notice how it brightens and fades with your breathing..."
The lamp captivated her as it made its round towards her, revolving around the room and entrancing her, fascinating her with its light. It ebbed in and out with her breathing, and her eyes remained glued to the light, no matter how hard she tried to take her eyes off. She couldn't. It was impossible for her to act of her free will...
Wait... what did she say?
Any rebellious thoughts inside her head were broken apart by the voice saying, "Now, you are beginning to descend into a trance... you will be unable to resist us, unable to think of your own free will..."
Katara's eyes began to dim, and her thoughts became muddled. Soothing voices in her head cooed to her, telling her to submit, telling her to give up, to give in, and that her will was not hers...
They were right. Her mind was wiped of any thoughts, wiped of any concerns, giving in to the blankness that was gifted to her. And her movements, her actions were not hers. She was no longer in control of herself.
She was their slave.
Kong watched in awe as Xi completed his indoctrination. He noticed that Katara was starting to show hints of an emotionless smile, eyes now blank of any emotion or thought.
And it was then that Xi launched into the mantra. ""There is no unrest within the walls. Here we are safe. Here we are free..."
And suddenly Katara bolted upright, stiffened, and her pupils shrank to tiny dots. She stayed in this position, and slowly, her eyes began to dilate until her eyes began to look fully black. "Now," Xi said. "She has been broken. She will respond to any orders we give her and be receptive to any suggestions we force on her. Although we do need to set up the appropriate fail-safes and parameters... she is ours now, loyal to her dying breath." He walked over to the brainwashed lady, and pried the cloth from her mouth. She immediately snapped her mouth shut, staring blankly in front of her. He removed the earthen manacles from her, which elicited no response from her.
How ironic that she had come out of a mindless oblivion only to be drowned in another.
"The Avatar won't know what hit him," chuckled Xi. He turned off all the settings, but left the lamp on, casting a yellow light on the room. Katara still remained in her surely uncomfortable position, unable to act of her own accord. Xi stood in front of her. "Can you hear me?" he asked.
"Yes..." Katara murmured, and her eyes shifted to gaze into his face. Although her voice seemed normal enough, it lacked a certain quality about it that made her who she was. And her eyes were empty wells, void of any part of who she used to be.
"Good," he said, and then he started training her. "Whenever we say, 'The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai,' you will respond with the phrase 'I am honored to accept his invitation.' And you will then be receptive to any order we give you. If we give you a command you do not find to your liking, your body will rid itself of any emotion clouding the decision you are forced to make, and you will carry out your orders. You no longer have a will. You are our loyal servant. Am I understood?"
"Yes. You are understood," Katara said.
"Good. Now... wake up."
Katara immediately relaxed, ran her hands through her hair, and blinked. Her eyes returned to their normal state. She looked around confusedly at her surroundings. "Who... what?" she asked, confused. Then her eyes settled on the two Dai Li Agents. She leapt from her chair, growled in anger, and recklessly charged at the two men before her. "You! -" she shouted. Kong yelped and cringed away from the fearsome woman, but Kong stayed his ground, only amused at the woman's vain attempts.
"'The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai,'" Xi said.
Katara froze up, and her pupils dilated until no more of her beautiful blue irises could be seen. A pity. But such was the consequence of indoctrination. "I am honored to accept his invitation," Katara recited blankly.
"Very good... now, go back to the chair and sit on it."
Katara immediately turned around, walked back to the chair, and sat on it, in the same rigid position she was in when she was first broken down.
Xi smiled at his success. "Perfect. Now the real fun begins..." he smiled maliciously, eyes glinting with triumph and grim satisfaction. "The Avatar won't know what hit him."
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