"I want to go."

"I think I want to go. It sounds interesting."

"Atta girl!"

You frown trying to catch a scrap of memory. "I've... I've been there, haven't I? To the campus."

"Yeah ya were. We went up for the almni picnic when you were ten, though you were in a trance the whole time. You should have a map of the campus memorized. Any questions?"

"Umm, what can I expect?"

"Well, sweet- sorry. It's a habit."

"It's okay. I didn't really mean what I said, it's just a lot to take in."

"All right then sweetie bird. Since mind control is what you'll be learning you'll get your first taste in the orientation. There's at least two dozen ways to ensnare someone in the main hall."

"Can you name them?"

"Nah I forgot most of them, but by the end of your first year you'll be as good at dodging trances as ya are at inducin 'em. Another thing is everyone and everyplace is fair game for a trance. Dorm, lecture hall, school dance, town club. Teacher, student, guy," Uncle Robert looks meaningfully at you. "girl. Don't matter."

"Uncie! I'm not into girls!"

"Sure your not sweetie bird." He says lightly. "Ya just keep that stash of Playboy's under yer mattress for the articles, but whatever did you keep your friend Candy's panties for after that drunken party?"

You blush bright red. "How... I told you when I was under, didn't I?" Uncle Robert nods with a slight smile. "I like guys!" You say in a defense.

"Then it means yer bi. Trust me, at that school, they don't care. You could be performing oral on someone in front of the dean's office and they wouldn't care. Only ones off limits are the cleaners."

"Cleaners?"

"Yup. There's one cleaner to every five students. Their job is to sweep the students and make sure there are no harmful suggestions in yer head. I spent a few years at MTU as a cleaner."

"Musta been pretty cool."

"Not really. It was all right for me, cause I didn't want to hurt nobody, but even though we got the best of everything we were'nt allowed to use our skills in anything other than a professional capacity as a cleaner, and sex was strictly prohibited. We had to be upright and moral. I left because I was worried about my skills degrading, but others..."

"They left because they got frustrated. All look and no touch would piss anyone off." You think a moment. "Would you come back now, as a cleaner?"

"They won't let me once yer there. Personal relation could make me loose my objectivity."

"Are they allowed to have friends, relationships?"

Uncle Robert sighed. "Yeah, they're allowed, but most cleaners stick to their own. Objectivity and fair treatment an' all."

"That kinda makes sense. I mean what if you got involved with a student and found a command that you didn't agree with... Yeah I can see where they're coming from. What else can you tell me?"

"The 'ministration will assign you a roomate. I got along with mine pretty well, as we had a lot in common, but if it don't work out, you can request a new one."

"Okay. What about normal classes? I can't exactly put mind controller on my resume."

"Yer more traditional learning is pumped in through the sublimnals at your dorm."

"Subliminals?"

"Yup. Pumped through the lights, TV, elctrical outlets, computer, music, everything. And you never realize it until it's done. One girl I knew ended up finishin her premed courses dryin her hair for a date. With MTU alumni all over the world, it's a small task to get you proper documentation."

"Okay..." You tap your chin for a long while. "Is there anywhere I can not worry about being tranced, say into town?"

"Fraid not, sweetie bird. MTU pretty much owns the town of Submission, Florida where it's located. MC is just a part of life down there. There are a few secluded places on and near campus, but this may help." Uncle Robert pulls a keychain from his neck and drops it into your hand. "I had a little cottage a quarter mile south of the campus. If it's still there, it's yours."

"Okay, what does it mean, traditional, paranormal, mechanical, and chemical?"

"Okay, odds are before you leave, you'll dabble in all four styles. Traditional is the basics, swinging watch, metronome, spiral, that sort of thing."

"Bore them into a trance."

"Exactly right, sweetie bird. Paranormal focuses mainly on using magic, possesion, and psychic powers to take your victim. Mechanical is all those odds and ends you see in bad sci fi movies."

"Like the Mesmergun?" You giggle.

"You laugh, but one of the mech boys made one of those that really worked. Kids took to calling him Quickdraw after he strapped it to his hip. Anyway, lastly is chemical. Not too terribly effective for MC on it's own, though there are some uses. Chemical compounds run more towards sedatives and psychatropics. Screw with the mind, then enslave it."

You sit with your uncle talking a long while before he presents you with a box full of his old college things. The next day you mail off your completed forms and after a whirlwind summer, it's off to college and time for...