Breakthrough

Jack unlocked the door, stepping into the familiar space with Veronica trailing behind. When he caught up with her outside, she’d looked surprised to see him coming from behind, but she hadn’t said a word, just followed silently into the building. The air felt different inside his apartment now. This space was his sanctuary, but with her here, it took on a new energy—a certain charged tension lingering between them as Jack considered how the next few days would unfold. His apartment wasn't large, but it would do for now.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Jack turned to her, arms crossed, his gaze steady. “You know the deal, Nikki. Pants off,” he said with a calculated, casual tone, as if this were the most natural request in the world. He wasn’t asking; he was setting a standard. He didn't particularly like using her traumatized state of mind to push her further into submission, but it was an opportunity he found hard to pass up on. A means to an end. A necessary tool, he told himself. He’d need to break her down a little before he could build her back up to his liking. Mold her into something more pliable, more useful to his long term strategy.

Veronica’s face hardened, a flash of defiance lighting up her eyes. Her lips curled as if ready to snap back at him with one of her cutting retorts, but she stopped herself. She was getting better at that—biting her tongue. For a moment, they stood in silence, a wordless battle of wills. Finally, she huffed in frustration, her hands hovering at the waistband of her trousers. Her movements were ****, slow, but in the end, she complied. She stripped down to her underwear, her cheeks flushed with a mix of irritation and shame.

“That’s better,” Jack said with a smirk. He was pushing her, testing her limits, knowing he had to break her resistance carefully. “If I’m going to help you, this is the least I should get in return, don’t you think?”

Veronica rolled her eyes, her jaw tight as if biting back another sarcastic remark, but she didn't respond. She knew she had no real choice, not if she wanted his protection. The fear she had felt in the wake of her encounter with the Zhou sisters was still raw, gnawing at her self-confidence, making her cling to Jack’s promise of safety despite how much it stung her pride.

Jack watched her, enjoying the battle unfolding behind her eyes—a battle between her pride and the necessity of his help. She hated this. He could feel the rebellious spark of Veronica, the sharp, independent woman she once was, trying to claw her way back to the surface. But there was also the new Nikki—the part of her that had started to accept this role, the part that knew she needed him. The part that was still afraid, **** to forget the trauma she’d endured.

“Make yourself comfortable. You’ll find a bed under all those boxes,” he added, gesturing vaguely toward the clutter. It was a small power play—another reminder of who was in charge. She wasn’t just staying in his apartment; she was staying on his terms.

Veronica still didn’t reply, her eyes lingering on the room with disdain. Her silence wasn’t acquiescence; it was a **** compromise. Jack knew she’d have preferred to fight, to stand her ground, but circumstances had stripped her of that luxury. She’d come to him for help, after all, and Jack had no intention of letting her forget it. The cramped, musty space was a far cry from her usual standards, but right now, she felt she had nowhere else to go. With a heavy sigh, she went inside, resigned to making do.

As she began clearing out the spare room, Jack made his way to his desk. He let her stew in her quiet frustration while he got to work, delving back into Samuel’s drive. There was something therapeutic in the cold precision of it—clicking through files, dissecting code, taking apart every last secret Samuel had tried to hide. He lost himself in the code, combing through it with renewed focus. The minutes ticked by, and the sound of shifting boxes and muttered curses faded into the background. He scrolled through the drive, and finally—there it was.

Spyware.

A piece of spyware attached to the subliminal embedding function, sending out details to an unknown IP. Worse, it seemed the function added a specific digital flag to the tampered audio for bots to easily find and identify. Now that he knew what he was looking for, a quick check verified that this same backdoor had been part of the prototype he'd been using. His work was being tracked and monitored.

Fuck, I should have known. Samuel had been ahead of him, watching, learning. But no longer. Jack had the upper hand now. With swift keystrokes, he dismantled the spyware and created a clean version of the embedding software. Samuel wouldn’t be spying on him anymore—at least not without Jack's deliberate intent. He’d feed him false information soon enough, lead him down the wrong path.

In the meantime, Nikki reappeared from the spare room, looking disheveled and tired. Her hair was a mess, her posture weary. She stood awkwardly in her underwear, her eyes darting between him and the floor.

“Done,” she muttered.

Jack barely glanced at her, keeping his focus on the screen as he started working on upgrading his custom software using the newly cleaned embedding drivers. “Good. Make us some dinner,” he said dismissively, tapping away at his keyboard. “There’s plenty in the fridge.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Nikki’s body stiffen. She stood there, her fists clenched at her sides. Jack could feel the tension radiating off her, the spark of defiance that had defined her as Veronica flickering back to life. Veronica would have fought him, tooth and nail. Veronica would have told him where he could shove his dinner. For a moment, he wondered if she would finally snap, throw her pride in his face and storm out, take her chances. He smirked—he almost wanted her to. But the spark died almost as soon as it appeared. He saw what replaced it—fear. The same fear that had driven her to him in the first place.

The weight of everything—the rude awakening, the shame, the helplessness—pressed down on her. She wasn’t the sharp, snarky woman she'd normally be. Her lip trembled, and before she could stop it, an small sob slipped out. Tears welled up in her eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself as if to hold the pieces of her fractured self together. Jack’s smirk faded as he turned to look at her.

“Jack...” Her voice trembled, and when she spoke again, the vulnerability in her words cut through the defiance. “I can’t take this much longer. Last night, this whole situation… it’s messing with my head. I don’t feel like myself anymore.”

Her eyes pleaded with him, her once razor-sharp tongue and haughty attitude now shattered. Jack finally took pity on her. He’d pushed her far enough now. He had no desire to break her completely—just enough so that she’d depend on him, trust him. He needed her to be Nikki, but he didn’t want to destroy Veronica entirely.

As he was pondering what to do next, she continued. “You’ve shown me how strong your tech is,” her voice barely above a whisper. “Do you think... could it... help me calm down? I just need to stop feeling like this.”

Jack leaned forward in his chair, watching her closely. Convenient. He rubbed his chin, as if pondering the request. “I told you, Nikki, I am here to help,” he assured her, a hint of compassion lacing his words. “I could... tweak something for you. Set something up to help you relax, soothe your anxiety. Would you like that?” He let the question hang in the air.

Nikki bit her lip, struggling against the battle raging inside her. Her pride was still clashing with her desperation, but the trauma and confusion of the past day had hollowed her out. She felt lost, she needed help. Slowly, she nodded. “Yes... please. I just need to feel better. Please help me.”

He stood up and approached her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. “Alright, I’ll help you feel better. Don't worry,” he said softly, his tone suddenly warm. “Give me an hour, and I’ll make something to settle your nerves. You’ll feel better in no time.” He let his hand linger for a moment before stepping away. “But, in the meantime, I’m hungry,” he hinted.

Her lip quivered, as if not certain how to respond. But the fight was gone, replaced by resignation—gratitude even. She nodded and turned toward the kitchen, muttering under her breath, “Fine.”

As Nikki busied herself preparing dinner, Jack returned to his desk.

First, he checked the differences between Samuel’s updates and the older prototype. The differences were subtle but significant. The frequencies and relative amplitudes for the subliminal embeddings had shifted just enough to explain why his carefully crafted white noise earplugs hadn’t been entirely effective—there had been layers of sound he hadn’t accounted for. More than that, the new interface was streamlined, with specific concepts easier to organize and embed, no longer buried behind obscure menu shortcuts. There was now built-in support for complex, overlapping message structures.

While the overall strength of the subliminals seemingly hadn't increased, the process was smoother, more sophisticated, making it easier to target certain behaviors and emotions without being noticed. It felt like everything was designed to make his manipulations more precise—just as dangerous, but far less detectable.

He began building a new playlist for Nikki, carefully layering each subliminal message beneath soothing tones. It obviously wasn’t just about calming her down—it was about reshaping her, molding her into exactly what he needed. The playlist would make her more comfortable in her role as Nikki, while still letting her function as Veronica when necessary.

Jack typed quickly, feeling inspired:

• “Jack’s ideas make sense, and you trust his intelligence and his lead. You naturally follow Jack because he knows best. Jack helped you when it mattered, and you are very grateful.”
• “You feel calm, centered, and safe when listening to Jack’s playlists, especially when he's near.”
• “When you're with Jack, you're Nikki. Nikki loves pleasing Jack, feels good obeying Jack, and feels safe with Jack. Being Nikki is easier and safer.”
• “When you're away from Jack, you're Veronica—strong, sharp, and independent. You feel fine as Veronica, but a part of you longs to be Nikki again, where life is easier and safer.”

Finally, he carefully tweaked the message strengths, underlying emotions, repetitions, and other necessary settings. He wanted to make sure there was an effect, without permanently turning her into a schizophrenic shadow of herself. It was a fine line to walk. Luckily, with the updated interface, he felt like he had a lot more granular control.

Satisfied with the balance, Jack saved the playlist and uploaded it for her to find. By the time Nikki finished making dinner, the tension between them had shifted slightly, the battle in her eyes quieter now.

As they ate in silence, Jack studied her, pleased with his progress of today. “I’m truly sorry to see you so upset, Nikki,” he said once they were finished. “I managed to set something up for you. It’s on your playlist. Listen to it tonight—you’ll feel better in the morning.”

Nikki nodded, eyes filled with exhaustion and something that resembled gratitude. Without another word, she disappeared into the spare room. Jack watched her go for a moment, before moving back to his desk.

He had more work to do.

As Nikki lay in the dimly lit room, the quiet hum of Jack’s playlist echoing softly in her mind through her earphones, she felt her body slowly unwind. The tightness in her chest, the jittery tension that had gnawed at her all day, seemed to melt away with each passing breath. Her fingers gently traced the edge of the pillow beneath her, the soft fabric a welcome contrast to the roughness she’d felt inside herself all day.

Thank God this works, I so needed this, she thought, almost in disbelief at how much lighter she felt. For the first time in days, her mind wasn’t racing. The swarm of doubts and fears was dulled, pushed to the background like a distant noise she couldn’t quite make out anymore. Instead, a strange, soothing clarity had taken its place.

Her thoughts drifted back to earlier in the day, the way Jack had been so firm with her, so dismissive. It had stung, infuriated her even. But now... she wasn’t so sure. She had needed someone to pull her out of the spiral she’d been in, and he’d done it. He hadn’t coddled her; he’d told her exactly what she needed to hear, even if it hurt. That’s what Jack did—he had taken charge, made the tough calls. And now, here she was, feeling better than she ever would have on her own.

Jack’s voice—though not literally present—seemed to linger in her thoughts, weaving through the edges of her consciousness like a reassuring presence. Jack knows best, the words echoed in her mind. Maybe, just maybe, Jack had been right to push her. Maybe she had needed a firm hand to guide her. A part of her hated to admit it, but lying here now, she couldn’t help but feel... grateful. Even if he had her walk around in her underwear. Maybe she just had to trust him.

A faint smile tugged at her lips. She never would have imagined thinking that just a week ago. But maybe that’s the point, she mused, sinking deeper into the pillow. When I'm with Jack, I don’t have to fight so hard anymore.

Nikki. She was Nikki now, Jack had decided for her this morning. It had taken her less than a day to get used to it. She had fought so long to be Veronica, to stay strong, sharp, always in control. But here, in this apartment, with Jack? Being Nikki felt easier. Softer. Safe. And that safety, that ease, was what she had needed more than anything. Even before those Chinese bitches had tortured her, she realized.

She'd have to work tomorrow... She would have to be Veronica again, she had ****. Veronica, the strong one, the sharp one, who didn’t let anyone push her around. The thought suddenly seemed exhausting. She felt a flicker of **** just thinking about stepping back into that role. Veronica had to be on guard, always in control, always fighting. Nikki... Nikki didn’t have to worry about any of that. Nikki could relax and trust Jack. Being Nikki was safer, her mind whispered. The idea brought her more comfort than it should have.

She sighed softly. Tomorrow could wait. For now, she could be Nikki.

Her eyelids grew heavier as the playlist’s tones wound down, her breathing slowing into a steady rhythm. The weight of the day, of her fears, faded into nothing. Being Nikki pleases Jack, her mind whispered, and for the first time, that idea didn’t stir rebellion. After all, being Nikki seemed to please her, too. It stirred comfort. It felt right. And, as sleep finally overtook her, her current situation almost felt good.