Student council, member one

November 12th

Francy sent me a text, asking me to meet her urgently. She needed my help with a conversion, she wrote. I made my way through the women's dorms, earning the occasional curious but unbothered look. It was just the afternoon, so the occasional guy visiting was expected. Some of the girls also recognized me, greeting me with sincere excitement, although they did not dare speak, to avoid making a scene.

Eventually, I reached the corridor I needed to go to, where I spotted Francy in front of one of the rooms. "Illuminating One, I think it would be best if You converted Bonnie Yourself. You wanted her under Your control because of the student council, so I think it would be for the best if You molded her mind to your liking. Dorothy is a perfect puppet of Yours in a way that I would have had a hard time recreating." Francy wasn't all that happy to admit that she might not be good enough.

I pat her head "Don't worry, I can probably deal with her. And you've done an amazing job so far."

She smiled "I've already prepared her a little already, Supreme Master. She should be willing to expose her weaknesses quite easily. Go on in." She opened the door.

I entered the room. The air was a little stuffy, so I opened a window. Bonnie sat on her bed, drifting in her thoughts, only exchanging a meek 'Hello' when I entered the room. "How are you, Bonnie? You look troubled" I ask her, steering the conversation to my desired outcome.

She sighed. "I'm... kinda fine. I just have a lot of things going through my mind at the moment. So many things to think about and decide."

I took a chair and sat myself facing her. "What's going on in your mind right now?"

She sighed again. "It's a lot... I have to be on the student council soon. I always thought of myself as a good conservative girl but recently I keep questioning my own beliefs."

"Explain that a little more" I demand.

"W-well" she begins "When I filed to run last summer, I felt like women should dress less like a slut and cover up more. But now as a council member, I have access to reports. Turns out, nothing much happened during the summer when many girls wore hotpants and whatnot. No increased reports of sexual harassment or anything. I've also been thinking a lot about other political stuff, but this is my biggest problem right now, since I kinda ran on covering up more. Am I not betraying my voters?"

I took a deep breath and thought about how to respond. "There's nothing wrong with changing your mind, Bonnie. We're all college students, these are some of the most formative years of our lives. Politically, we are all finally outside of our parents' bubble and forced to see more of the world. I'd be lying if I said I'm still the exact same person as when I entered college. Besides, you got elected for a 2-year-term, I'm sure many other councilors will also change their minds and maybe even party over the next two years. You don't need to worry."

"I guess you're right..." she began, only to sigh again. "You know, I originally ran because I figured it would be a great way to get me out there and maybe get one of the few conservative guys at a college to find and like me. But nobody wanted anything serious. It all feels so pointless now... I'm still single after the campaign. Once we have normal council sessions, I'll just fade into obscurity. And now I don't even believe in half the stuff I ran on anymore. Should I just resign?"

Bonnie was never serious about her office, huh? Just a springboard for finding a guy that makes her a stay-at-home mom? I wonder if being in my cult could fix her motivational problem. But I needed to focus on her conversation. Mathematically, I couldn't want her to resign. Even if I were to get the other female student councilors under my control, 7 out of 11 is still a higher percentage than 6 out of 10. "I don't think so. I mean, if you want, you can just stay on the council, advocate for the policies you ran on, and hope some man finally asks you out for real. And if you no longer want that... Well, do you think you're the only person who entered college with conservative beliefs, only to start questioning them? Don't people like you also deserve some representation?"

"You're... right, yeah. I can't be the only one" she said in a tone clearly showing she needed to convince herself of that. "But... do I have what it takes? I feel so stupid for believing much of what I believed in. The moment I tried to do research about it, I had to find out how different reality was. What if I'm still stupid and change my mind again? What if I'm still stupid and I'm making a big mistake right now?" I decided that this sentiment would be my jumping off point.

Me: "Tell me, Bonnie... If you genuinely are this stupid, would you want advice?"

Bonnie: "Absolutely!"

Me: "Would you follow that advice to a tee?"

Bonnie: "I mean... maybe. It depends."

Me: "But if you're so stupid that you need to rely on advice, why question it? Why refuse?"

Bonnie: "Wait..."

Me: "I'm always here to help, Bonnie. Just follow my advice, let your doubts wash away, and I'll help you. I'll illuminate your path."

Bonnie: "Yeah... help me... please."

Me: "Good girl. No questioning, just waiting for orders."

Bonnie: "Not advice... just orders..."

Me: "Don't worry, I have your best interests at heart. I know what's best for you."

Bonnie: "Am stupid... trust you..."

Me: "I'll even be so nice to not embarrass you publicly. Here's what you'll do: You'll start to negotiate with the Feminists about their quota and suggest a 50% quota for women. You'll side with the radicals on this. But you demand some political horse trading. Whatever concessions they suggest, tell me. Otherwise I will make some of my own and tell them to you. Also, look for any insecurities from the FP members and report them to Francy."

Bonnie nodded.

Me: "Good girl. Keep up the public facade and study hard. But outside of your subject, you're just a dumb girl who needs me to guide her."

Bonnie: "Dumb... for you..."

Me: "That's right. Just let me think for you, Bonnie. Following is so much better than thinking, isn't it? Just relax and become my puppet, executing my will."

Bonnie: "Your... puppet..."

Me: "Feel strings pulling you to do what I say. Don't you feel glad that someone is guiding you? Shouldn't you thank a person with such gifted, unnatural foresight adequately? Shouldn't you worship the person who pulls your strings so well?"

Bonnie: "Need to thank... worship..."

Me: "When you wake up tomorrow morning you will be filled with a new purpose and a new outlook on your life. You will revel in being my puppet. When you start to think about things other than your new purpose or the need I have for you, your thoughts will begin to cloud. The only thing left in your life is your service to me."

Bonnie blurted out a sheepish 'Yes', before fainting on her couch. I looked at Francy in concern, but she just smiled at me. "She needed your guidance anyway. I'm good at seeping my way into their minds like a poisonous gas, but sometimes one needs to bludgeon their way in. Thank you, Supreme Master. I'm sorry I needed your help." She bowed and guided me to the exit of the girls' dorms.