Miranda Lawson, who thinks it's time she understood her place.

"I told you already Miranda, absolutely not!" Shepard yelled at her XO, whose perfect pearly white teeth were gritted in frustration. Shepard continued, "Every alien on this ship has earned their place. Every one of them is a friend to whom I'd trust my life. We will not be removing them from their posts simply because they aren't human."

Miranda Lawson shook her head. "That's not acceptable Shepard. The Illusive Man clearly states that..."

"I don't give a damn what the Illusive Man says!" Shepard yelled.

Miranda's eyes widened. Anger boiled through her. "How.. How dare you... He gave you this ship."

"Well it's not his anymore, so I'll do what I please with it thank you very much. This discussion is over Miranda. Never bring it up again or I'll have you escorted off my ship straight into Alliance prison. Have I made myself clear?" Shepard asked. Miranda stared for a moment, then nodded. "Good," Shepard smiled. "If you need me I'll be in my cabin."

"I understand Commander," Miranda said, slowly taking a few steps behind her desk and pulling something up on her omni-tool. "However, this conversation is not over..." As Shepard watched, confused and irritated, Miranda typed a few holographic keys hurriedly, then looking straight at Shepard, pressed one more.

At that point, Commander Shepard suddenly felt a jolt run through her, like a lightning strike. She suddenly stood ramrod straight, her arms falling to her sides, and her eyes rolling back in her head until her eyes were a pure white as her face went blank and expressionless. Miranda smiled, looking down at her omni-tool, which simply read:

Commander Shepard OS Override Complete... Subject awaits commands...

Miranda had once told Shepard that she had briefly considered the idea of placing a chip in the Commander's brain during her reanimation in order to ensure loyalty to Cerberus. She had told Shepard she had reconsidered.

She had lied.

"Remove your clothes, Commander," Miranda tested, seeing if her control was as absolute as it should be. Without hesitation, Shepard mechanically removed her armor, then went about peeling her clothes and underwear from her skin. Within a few moments, Shepard stood in her office completely naked. Miranda grinned, then sauntered over to the mindless woman who just moments ago was her superior. She reached out to one of Shepard's breasts and squeezed it tightly. Shepard didn't respond in the slightest. She reached down and ran her fingers along Shepard's shaved snatch, which rapidly moistened. Again, no reaction. She did both at the same time. Nothing.

"Perfect," her grin extended, "Shepard, can you hear me?"

"Yes controller," Shepard replied in an autonomous, mechanical voice. Miranda felt herself moisten at the thought of this powerful woman calling her controller. She'd never admit it of course, but she always felt that the only thing that could truly pleasure the perfect woman would be a woman of near equal perfection. For as much as she toyed with them, men never held her interest really. In Shepard, she had a candidate, but first thing was first.

"Call me 'Mistress'. Not controller."

"Yes... Mistress."

"And you are no longer a commander. You are a ****. My ****."

"Yes mistress. I am your ****," Shepard droned.

"**** everything I am about to tell you will now be etched deep into your mind. They will become as much a part of you as your name. No one will ever be able to remove my influence, even if they somehow removed the chip in your brain. Is that understood?"

"Yes mistress."

"From now on, you will obey all of my commands willingly and without question, even when you are not in command mode. In public, you will act as though you are still your previous self, and am merely taking my advice into consideration before making the decision yourself. Privately, you will no longer have a mind of your own. You will only do as I command. You are nothing but a puppet."

"Yes mistress... I am your puppet ****..." She says.

"In time, once we have reorganized this ship and her crew to suit Cerberus' purpose, you will stand down and become my subordinate. Do you understand?"

"Yes mistress."

"Prove it. Kiss me ****. Show me your devotion."

Robotically, Shepard moved forward and leaned in. Miranda embraced her and **** her tongue into Shepard's mouth, dominating the once proud commander, savoring the sweetness of her ruby red lips. She opened her eyes for a moment, looking at Shepard's blank empty eyes as she robotically kept going. Miranda almost came right then and there at the sight of them, but she resisted. She pulled back.

"That's enough ****," she proclaimed. Shepard leaned back and resumed her robotic posture. "I'm going to activate you now. Then we'll discuss again what's to be done about the... lesser beings on this ship."

"Yes mistress." Miranda pressed some more keys on her omni-tool, and a moment later, Shepard jolted again before her muscles relaxed and her eyes returned to their normal position. She blinked for a moment, then her eyes fell upon Miranda, who could see something that wasn't there before.

Devotion.

"Mistress," she said, with a servile attitude and submissive tone of voice. "I am sorry. I did not mean to disagree with you. Of course we should reconsider the place of the alien filth onboard this ship. It is only natural that they be at the feet of their betters."

"Really? And what of your lover? What of Liara T'Soni?"

Shepard snorted. "She means nothing to me mistress. If you wish, I will dispose of her."

"No. No. No, that won't be necessary. I can think of much more... practical purposes... for the good doctor, but for now, come over here and help me out of this uniform. Allow me to test your loyalty..."