"Where is the director?" @Priscilla asked after pushing open the door to another room.

A little while ago, she started stroking the top of my head through the sack's fabric, much to my chagrin. It seemed to be some kind of nervous tic, and I wasn't even sure if the girl realized that she was subconsciously petting the cat in her arms. By this point, I was totally skeptical of the vampire girl's self-proclaimed hatred of cats. She was very clearly an experienced cat owner in real life.

Perhaps this was the reason why she had been the first one to pick me up when I infiltrated their underground camp at Spawn.

"They are in the stables," an unfamiliar voice replied. "@Trisha is tending to the Laguna. It's wounded."

"Ah, I see." @Priscilla said.

The vampire girl squeezed me a little more tightly.

"Thank you, @Maribelle. Make sure you get some sleep at some point."

"I'll get some rest when I get a chance. The evacuation is still ongoing and we're overwhelmed here."

"Mhm."

@Priscilla nodded wordlessly and excused herself.

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@Priscilla walked through the hallways for a few more minutes, and I felt the air quality shift to something more stale and earthy. The temperature dropped a few degrees, and even within the sack I could vaguely sense that we had entered some kind of vast subterranean cave system.

There were a number of distant echoing voices in the area, accompanied with the noise of many animals — presumably the knights' mounts and other livestock. The acoustics were somewhat muddled, so I could only guess that a large network of honeycombing tunnels must have caused the sounds to blur together. If it was wide enough to hide a flying whale, it must have been a very big underground cavern.

A handful of voices slowly grew louder as @Priscilla walked closer.

"The counteroffensive at Tower Anchorage definitely sent a message to those bastards," someone said.

"The Disrupter prototype outperformed all expectations. It knocked the city barrier down and took most power stations offline. I don't think the mission would have been as successful if the we weren't able to black out all communications."

"How soon until we can deploy a second unit? I want Rose Squadron staged for a second bombing run. I want to make it clear that we can strike any core city of theirs anywhere in the sector. The shields on their strongholds are useless while we hold the technological advantage."

@Priscilla cleared her throat to announce her arrival, but the chorus of voices didn't seem to notice her.

They sounded like they were in a heated discussion.

"The Laguna has extensive burns. I don't think it can fly any missions for at least one or two weeks."

"We took critical losses at Tower Anchorage too. @Flare was... captured."

"That's not an issue. There are other fire casters we can transfer to Rose Squadron."

"We're just going to replace her? What the hell?!"

"Calm down, @Shruti."

"She's the fucking center of our formation! How the hell do you fly a bombing squadron without the pyrotechnic specialist?"

"@Shruti... I know how you feel... we all loved @Flare... it's just—"

"This isn't about my feelings! We need to rescue her! Why isn't this even being discussed by leadership?! We can't just abandon her!"

"@Shruti! Calm down! Just think rationally for a bit."

"I'm calm! I'm 100% calm! @Trisha is a councilwoman, right? Then this is my formal petition to the High Council. Please let us attempt a rescue mission. We will break into Castle Impound and recover any of our people from that high-security facility."

There was a long moment of silence in the cave.

It seemed to be a highly unusual request, whether it was implausible or simply unrealistic.

Even @Priscilla went totally quiet.

@Trisha's soft and succulent voice finally spoke up.

"That request is denied," she said.

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"As a matter of fact," @Trisha continued, "Rose Squadron will have different priorities from now on. Commander @Adrian will brief everyone on the details later. Incidentally, @Priscilla seems to have arrived just in time. This will be good opportunity to introduce our new little friend." 

Skeptical murmurs swept through the crowd like a tidal wave.

"Yes, my queen." @Priscilla said deferentially.

The sack was lifted, and I felt myself being delivered to someone else's hands.

The drawstring on the bag was loosened, and suddenly there was pale white light in my eyes.

I found myself staring at the bunny girl's face.

"Why hello there," @Trisha said with a friendly smile.

I glared at her unblinkingly. Despite her cordial expression, I was completely self-aware of the fact that the girl had a tight grip on the chains around my legs. Her actions were inconsistent with her language, and @Trisha didn't even leave a single inch for me to move. The collar around my neck was restrictive, and I could see @Priscilla holding a shock remote in my peripheral vision.

Memories flashed through my eyes, and I remembered those last moments on the airship as a pegasus knight repeatedly stabbed @Jasper in the stomach. The knight was wearing her helmet at the time, so I had no idea which of the women had done it, but resentful emotions bubbled up inside my chest.

These women were very dangerous and vindictive.

I didn't trust Ovum the slightest bit.

"It seems like you don't have a master anymore," she slyly remarked, her attitude casual.

I bristled at her, hissing and struggling to get my claws free of the taut chains.

They had taken @Jasper away, and I had zero intention to rest until I could get him back. The two-faced bunny was practically rubbing my owner's capture in my face, and my agitated spirit was resentful. Regardless if @Jasper was here or not, he was the only person I was in love with, and I wanted to fight by his side until the end.

"Oh you poor thing," @Trisha muttered sympathetically. "You don't even realize it, do you?"

She rubbed my ears affectionately.

"You've been brainwashed. Despite all the horrible things those evil bad men did to you, you've been tricked into thinking you're in love with your owner. Love makes the most loyal slaves, after all. People do irrational and terrible things for the sake of love, so psychologically training slaves to love their master is a very effective method to create perfectly obedient tools."

I struggled desperately, not interested in listening to the bunny's eloquence.

"Do you know catnip¹Nepeta cataria, commonly known as catnip, catswort, catwort, and catmint, is a species of the genus Nepeta in the family Lamiaceae, native to southern and eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of China. (see Wikipedia)? I'm sure an experienced slave such as yourself must have had seen it before."

@Trisha's voice was sickeningly sweet like an angel.

"It's essentially an aphrodisiac for cats," she explained. "It shares molecular similarity with the pheromones that felines release while in heat, and it's an irresistible compound that smells very good. Some pet stores sell a sprayable version that owners can apply to themselves like perfume, and the cats simply can't help but want to curl up with their trainers afterwards."

She continued to stroke my back tenderly.

"And then there are oxytocin²Oxytocin (Oxt) is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide. (see Wikipedia) shots. It's commonly known as the love hormone, and enormous quantities of it are released during sexual orgasm. By injecting it into mice, it facilitates bonding, trust, and maternal behavior. We have a version of this on Vetita too, and it's particularly useful for catalyzing a special variant of magic that depends on an emotional bond between casters. Sound familiar?"

My body began trembling spontaneously.

I had seen these drugs used on other slaves, and I was well aware of their existence. Some of the chemicals were even addictive, and people would enter withdrawal if they didn't receive doses on a regular basis. This was a common strategy employed by real prostitution rings on Earth. Once a sex worker was hooked on drugs like cocaine or heroine, they were at the total mercy of their manager. Narcotics were a very effective form of psychological slavery.

@Jasper had never used them on me, though.

At least, I didn't think so.

I was sure that my feelings for him were genuine.

Nonetheless, @Trisha sounded almost sorry for me.

"Don't worry," she said warmly. "We'll make sure that you get plenty of therapy. We can cure your lovesickness."

The bunny girl slowly turned around to show me the sizable circle of knights present at the scene.

"There are plenty of nice ladies here, all whom are very lovely. You just have to pick one, and we'll slowly heal your emotional scars. There's no reason why your feelings should be at the total mercy of toxic men. You're not a slave anymore, and at least in my eyes, you're a special guest. We share a lot more in common than you might expect, and I think we can help each other with something."

A soft smile appeared on her lips.

"After all, you're definitely not cis³A cisgender person (sometimes cissexual, informally abbreviated cis) is a person whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth. (see Wikipedia). Perhaps you're an egg⁴Egg:
Popular LGBT slang for a person who doesn't realize they are transgender yet, or is in denial; an undeveloped transgender person. When they realize, it's referred to as the "egg cracking."? Ovum might just be the perfect home for you."

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