Several hours later...

Lauren politely greeted Ross and Madison as they entered her small office. She was fully dressed again and working at her laptop; Regina was back in her dorm room dreaming about all of the things she could do with her new toy.

"Hello again, Madison. I take it you're here to clean up the mess you made earlier with me. Are you able to acknowledge that you're a golem?"

Ross was stunned by the direct question, but Madison wasn't. "I am," she said nonchalantly. "When did you figure it out?"

Lauren closed the laptop and put it aside. "It was immediately obvious that you were much more familiar with golems than Regina realized. Your complete disinterest in experimenting with me led me to think that you either were a golem or owned multiple golems, but it was your response to my statement about Dr. Chambers that made it clear."

Ross coughed. "Yeah, we'll need to hear everything you can tell us about that."

"I'm sorry, Ross, but you have no control over me yet." Lauren sounded legitimately apologetic, like a tech support employee explaining that they can't fix a problem. "Madison, would you like me to tell you what I know?"

Madison shifted uncomfortably. "Not right now. First we need to set things right."

Ross unzipped his bag and pulled out the release tablet. Lauren's eyes alit upon it and she smirked. "I figured you would bring one of those. Is that how he found out about you? It makes sense - to be honest, there's no rational explanation for someone as attractive and intelligent as you dating him."

Ross protested and Lauren shrugged apologetically. Madison left them to take a stand outside. She wanted to get enough distance that she could be sure the release tablet wouldn't affect her, since it would remove all of the locks on her binding. She remembered her time under Dr. Chambers' control and shuddered. After a few minutes, her phone chimed and she gratefully went back into the office.

Ross was standing awkwardly beside the desk while Lauren brushed off her shirt. "Ok, now you've got complete control," she said. "Do you plan to remove my memories of tonight? That's not a bad idea, but my next inspection will almost certainly reveal that I've been tampered with."

"Let us worry about that," Madison said. "I can pull some strings to make sure your next inspection isn't very thorough. First, we need answers about Dr. Chambers' wife."

"Ex-wife," the golem corrected. "Patricia. I overheard a conversation she had with Dr. Levinson and she quite dislikes him."

"Then why is she investigating his disappearance?" Ross asked.

"Because she feels that everyone deserves justice, even him. But that's not the right question, is it?"

"Why was she talking to Dr. Levinson?" Madison asked. "And how did you know I'd react to the news that way?"

Lauren nodded approvingly. It reminded Ross of his 4th-grade teacher's expression when he got his times tables right. "The reason is the same. Anyone who's paying attention knows that there's something strange going on with you, Dr. Levinson, and another student. Not long after it started, Dr. Chambers suddenly had his inexplicable breakdown and disappearance, then Dr. Levinson returned to normal. I haven't heard any compelling theories as to the particulars of your conspiracy, but many people suspect there is one."

"Fuck," Ross said. He sat down in one of the cheap office chairs and looked despondently at the floor. "What are we gonna do?"

"Cheer up," Lauren told him. "If I'm not wrong, your golem has a plan to deal with all of this. Starting with me, of course."

"Of course," Madison echoed. She fished around in her backpack and pulled out a small modifier script. She flashed it at Lauren, who reeled as though she'd been struck by a gust of wind. Her sharp, perceptive eyes swam out of focus and a broad smile spread across her lips.

"Ohhh..." she sighed softly. "That's very nice."

"Did you give her the docility script?" Ross asked. "Why would you do that? She was already cooperating."

"Of course she was," Madison said. "This isn't the original script. I modified it to be retroactive. Her dreamlike sense of unreality will be postdated to six hours ago. Right, Lauren?"

"That's right," the golem said dreamily. "That's very clever. You're very clever, Madison. And very pretty. This is all so... lovely."

"It sure is," Madison agreed. "Now, Lauren, while you're feeling so nice, why don't you tell us everything you know about Patricia?"

"Why does she have to be on the modifier for that?" Ross asked. "She was gonna tell us anyway."

Madison shrugged. "The modifier feels good. She can't feel anything, but the part of her that thinks it can feel will think it's enjoying itself. Besides, we don't want her remembering this conversation as real either, do we?" She booped Lauren playfully on the nose and Lauren giggled thickly.

"Nope!" Lauren said. "You want me to start from the beginning?"