And the sought-after negative trait appeared. “Short-term amnesia” popped up as if by magic.
In the same instant that he selected it, the negative mental problems turned gray. Gray as in no longer active. That they wouldn’t be a problem any further.
The traits weren’t really gone, but they would no longer be able to make an impact anymore.
It even had the added bonus of giving him points back, since amnesia certainly wasn’t a good thing.
“Neat,” Felix said. He confirmed the changes and slid to the next bed, repeating the process for the other two women.
Upon finishing on the third, he realized he still had about three hundred points or so left. The amnesia had really offset the costs and pushed him into a better point bracket than he’d thought he would be.
Shrugging, he looked at the clock. It was about ten minutes till midnight.
The whole midnight reset thing still bothered him, but not enough to question it anymore.
Standing up, he stretched his back and then prepped three cups of water, three bowls of chocolate pudding, and three bowls of lime Jell-O. There was no telling if they’d be hungry. Or thirsty, even. But he’d rather be safe than sorry. Not to mention, it might help him earn some brownie points with them.
Cooperative slaves were preferable.
Then he walked in front of each bed at eleven fifty-eight p.m. and disabled their comas one by one.
Deciding that he’d rather be perfectly safe without a concern for what they might do, he then took the restraints he’d purchased and looped one around each woman’s waist. They’d be unable to get up unless he undid the buckle that ran around the back of the bed.
It took only a few minutes, but they all began to stir at roughly the same time, their arms twitching and their lips fluttering as they came back to life.
“What’s going on?” one asked.
“Why can’t I see? Get this blindfold off me,” someone else said.
“My fingers, my fingers are gone!” shouted a third.
Felix bit his lip and took a deep breath. “Good evening, everyone,” he said.
All three stopped, their eyeless heads swiveling in his direction, trying to track him.
“First, don’t panic. You’re in a safe place while you recover. While you’re put back together.
“Second, there’s been some serious changes in the city. You three were captured by a villain who took over the city. They run it completely, from top to bottom.”
Felix took a breath before he continued. “You’ve been… you’ve been tortured to the point that you should be dead.”
Felix felt his stomach flip over. This wasn’t the best way to start.
“I’ve removed your memories for the last month and I’ve begun working to… to fix you. To put you back to rights. I swear I can do it. You’ll find that at this moment, you’re a normal human with… severe injuries.
“The city has fallen. Heroes are being hunted and killed in the streets for bounties, or being turned over to the government to handle. Also for a bounty. Heroes are pretty much outlawed right now, and there doesn’t seem like there is anything that can be done to change the situation.
“In fact, the population supports everything, as the economy is now booming. Unemployment is way down, economy is up, and they pushed through universal healthcare.”
Three hairless heads made tiny bobs as if they agreed or understood that.
Odd.
Now the hard part.
“The only way that I was able to retrieve you was to purchase you as slaves. Slavery now being legal, that is. Slave contracts are enforced magically and permanently binding. I can shift your ownership to someone else if I chose.
“As your slave contracts appear to be a punishment, rather than for a set limit or cost, there is no going back for you. You’re slaves for the interminable future.”
At this point, all three women sat up straighter, their spines stiffening. One lifted her battered arm to gesture wildly at where she probably thought he was.
They started asking questions at the same time, all demanding an answer of him. Loudly. Annoyingly.
“Be quiet,” Felix finally got out, raising his voice. Then he closed his eyes and counted to ten in his head.
He had to tell them exactly what was happening now. There was no room for there to be misunderstandings or changes down the road.
This was where he set it all up.
All three had fallen silent from his command.
“Sorry, but you don’t seem to understand your position. I own you. I’ve bound you in a slave contract. I’m no hero. I’m not doing this for charity.
“I don’t want you to suffer, nor do I want you to be disfigured for life. I do want you for what you can give me, though. My power seems to increase in power by the number of people I have in a contract. I imagine it works for villains or heroes. Probably even civilians, to a lesser degree.
“Oh, and you’ll not discuss any of this with anyone. This is confidential, for us alone.”
Felix sighed and put his hands on his knees. The woman in the center bed was struggling with the strap around her waist. The closest one had the stumps of her hands pressed to her mouth. The one in the furthest bed looked… disoriented but unafraid.
“You can speak now. Please don’t yell. And since none of you can see, there’s three of you here. Nor do I know your names. Let’s start there. My name is Felix.”
“I—”
“My nam—”
“Stop,” Felix cut in. “Let’s do this. I’ll touch you on the shoulder, you say your name.” He got up and walked over to the woman on the far left. He gently touched her shoulder with a finger. “What’s your name?”
“My name is Miu. Miu Miki,” said the woman.
“You may ask one question before we move to the next person,” Felix said. He was trying to be fair, but he also wanted to get moving with this whole thing.
“What do you plan to do with us?” Miu asked.
“Plan to do with you? Nothing. You’ll end up living with me while you recover. After that, I don’t know. Maybe get jobs and have a normal life? Next.”
Felix tapped the woman in the middle on the shoulder. “Name?”
“I am Ioana Iliescu, the War Maiden, and you’ll release me—”
“No, I won’t. Sorry. Like I said, this is a villain’s city now. As long as they’re in charge, you’re my property, and I’ll be using your powers to my benefit.
“Now, Ioana, do you have an actual question?”
“I have a statement. If you even try to rape me, I’ll rip it off.”
“Good to know. I have no plans to abuse you three against your will. I stand by my earlier comment, this isn’t charity. In the same breath, I’m not a villain, though. You’ll live, work, and stay with me, but you do still have certain rights. I think ‘not being raped’ is definitely one of those rights.”
Felix walked around Ioana’s bed and approached the third woman. He tapped her shoulder gently.
Her head turned up in the direction she probably thought he was, and then smiled.
“My name is Kit Carrington. I can’t hear your mind. I can’t hear anyone’s minds. Everything is silent. Is everyone dead? Are we all dead?” she said wonderingly.
“No. The takeover went rather smoothly. Only heroes ended up dead or missing. Pretty sure all the civilians were allowed to walk out with a clean slate. I’m pretty sure I’ve depowered you, and boosted my own power. Do you have a question for me?”
Her earlier question felt more like a panic response than an actual question.
She processed that and then nodded her head.
“Can you fix me completely without repowering me?” she asked.
“I can and plan to do that. You’ll be as fit as any other human out there. More so if we have the time to bump up your stats. Though even if I did repower you, and I might, depending on what my needs are, I could just as easily turn it back off.”
Kit nodded her head at that and then lay back down comfortably in her bed. “If you can keep it as quiet as it is right now, I’ll serve. Willingly. Call me Kit.”