Like and Subscribe

Diego opened the laptop on the kitchen table. "First I'd like to show something to Mrs.., er, Kendra" He pressed the space bar and scooted behind the laptop so that he could not see the screen. The "Deprogramming" video he'd chosen began to play.

"Hello everyone. Welcome to my channel. I have a video for you that you are really going to enjoy. Make sure that you hit Like and Subscribe. That makes my day!"

Kendra: "What is this Diego? Why are you showing me this? Who is this guy? We need to..."

Diego jumped when the voice on the laptop cleared its throat and said "Diego? I'm waiting. Like and Subscribe!" The "Diego" sounded like it had been dubbed in after the video was made.

Diego, spun the laptop to face him and frowned. "How in the world?" He hit both icons and then spun the laptop back to Kendra.

Valeria: "Diego? Honey? What is this?"

Diego: "Don't look at this Mom. It's for Kendra"

YouTuber: "Okay. That's out of the way. Now, pay attention to the screen. Watch the pretty pretty lights"

Diego saw Kendra's mouth open to ask another question but, once the lights started, she stopped, her mouth hanging slightly open as she stared intently at the screen. Multicolored lights played across her face.

"Aren't these beautiful lights? So relaxing. They almost make you want to take a nap. But don't do that. Keep your eyes open and just feel the peace that washes through you."

Diego watched Kendra closely. She mouthed the words "So peaceful".

Unnoticed by Diego, Valeria did the same.

The voice continued: "Just breathe in and out. In and out. Let your mind relax. There is no reason to worry. No reason to doubt. There is no reason to think. Just let Diego handle the hard stuff. He knows what's best for you. Only Diego - no on else. Diego's approval is your reward. Diego is truth. Diego is love. Only Diego."

Diego smiled in wonder at the technology that had inserted his name into a video like this. "Laying it on a little thick. What kind of deprogramming is this?"

Both women silently mouthed "Only Diego".

"Now just watch the lights and listen to this peaceful music as you fall deeper and deeper into your new life"

Diego got up to get a class of water, careful not to look in the direction of the laptop. He wondered what his mother thought about all this. She was quiet but she probably knew not to interrupt.

"Almost done now" the voice said "Only one more thing and then your life will be perfect. You know who to serve and who to love. It is Diego, of course. No one else will be your master. No one else can ever be your master."

"No one else" both women intoned.

Diego's gaze shot to his mother. He saw her happy, glazed look as the colors washed over her face.

"No, wait"

YouTuber: "When you hear the tone, you will awaken, feeling refreshed and filled with purpose" A tone sounded, just as Diego clapped the lid down on the laptop.

Valeria reacted first. She frowned, looked to the floor and held her hand to her heart. Valeria's mind had been taken apart and put together again multiple times in the last few days. She was still raw. Her hold on the Valeria identity was stronger now but there was one constant that she was sure of. One person that she could rely on: Diego. She raised her eyes to her son and her heart filled with deep love and perfect devotion.

"Mom, you weren't supposed to..." Diego was interrupted by impact with a warm body.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Chase! Chase did something to me, Diego!" Kendra threw herself into Diego's arms pinning her body to his.

"Kendra..." Diego said.

Kendra kept babbling "He told me that I was falling in love with him. He told me that we needed to teach you a lesson!" Kendra wept into DIego's shoulder.

"I believed all of it. How could I? Why did I do that? He made me his maid! He had... SEX with me! His own mother!" Diego's eyes met Valeria's intense gaze, remembering how Valerie had roughly seduced him.

Kendra had spent days as Chase's thrall; his maid, his lover, his ****. She was rocked to her very core by what Chase had done to her. The only thing that made sense to her now was that this handsome young man would save her. He'd tell her how to make sense of everything. He was her anchor as her thoughts threatened to spiral out of control.

"Oh no. I fired Harold. Poor Harold" She wailed.

"Who's Harold?" Diego asked, looking to his mother.

Valeria shrugged. "Probably the butler"

"I was so weak! I just let him control..."

Diego grabbed Kendra by the shoulders, pushing her away. "Stop. You need to get control of yourself. This isn't helping. We need to plan what we're going to do"

Kendra reacted immediately. Her posture straightened. She patted her hair and straightened her dress. "Of course, master. We need to plan"

Diego winced and shook his head. This was going to be a problem. Kendra, and probably his mother thought of him as their master now. "Right. You don't have to call me master but we do need a plan. Frankly, I have no idea what to do."

As Kendra rummaged in her purse for a tissue, Valeria slowly smiled. Then she laughed softly.

"Oh. I have a plan. Yes. I have the perfect plan."