Wise

Today was an off day. Phaethon hadn't had any commissions for the day, and Bangboo 18 was off for maintenance and wouldn't be back for a few weeks, so Belle and Wise were using it as a chance to focus on Random Play's performance.

"Alright, Wise, I'm off to restock!" Belle shouted, leaving to the back lot with an empty cardboard box.

"Got it!" Wise replied. The door slammed as Wise was left on the store floor.

Wise looked up to the customers who were browsing the store. Seemed particularly busy today... more busy than usual.

As he was watching the store, his vision suddenly began spinning.

"Ngh," he muttered, clutching his head. The dizziness suddenly erupted into a full-on headache, before dissipating suddenly as fast as it appeared. "Huh? What was that?"

Just then, a middle-aged woman walked up to the counter. Needing to interact with a customer, Wise shook off his confusion and put on his customer-service face.

"Hello, welcome!" Wise greeted. "What would you like to rent today?"

"I would like this copy of the Starlight Knight," the customer replied.

"That's a great one," Wise said. "Have you been to Random Play before?"

"No, it's my first time."

"Great! If you like the store and intend to come back, then you should buy a membership, It gets you a lot of benefits-" Wise said.

"Okay!" she said. "How much is it?"

"Oh, it's 5000 Dennies per month," Wise said.

The woman reached for her pocket and immediately put the Dennies on the counter.

"Nice, thank you for your patronage," Wise said, putting the Dennies into the cash register and handing her a membership card. "As for the Starlight Knight, we're expecting you to return that around two weeks from now..."

The rest of the day breezed by. Wise found it strange how so many customers suddenly wanted memberships when he offered them, but he definitely wasn't mad about it.

Wise thanked the last customer of the day who walked out the door, membership card in hand.

"Wow," he said. "Maybe I should head the store more often..."

Belle walked into the store from the back lot, carrying a cardboard box that was now filled with the newest films.

"What took so long?" Wise asked. "It's almost closing time!"

"Sorry, bro, there was some construction over on Ninth street, so I had to take a detour."

"...Are you sure you didn't go to the mall next to our supplier?"

"N-No! Anyways, how was managing the store? Anything interesting happen?"

"Well, we got way more membership signups than usual."

"Really? How much more?"

"As many as we had for two weeks combined." Wise said.

"That's great!" Belle replied. "What's your tactic? Show me!"

"I didn't really have a tactic..."

Belle smugly grabbed a random video and walked up to the front counter.

She spoke in a deep, masculine voice. "Hello, Mr. Manager. I would like to rent this here movie please."

Wise chuckled, deciding to humor her. "Alright. How are you finding the store?"

"It's a great store!"

"If you like it, then you should buy a membership."

Belle dropped the voice. "A membership? How much does it cost?"

"5000 Dennies a month."

"Alright, I'll buy it!"

"See? I didn't really do anything." Wise said. "That was my approach to every customer who checked out a fi-"

"Well, I'm gonna buy one now."

"I- what?" Wise asked, confused.

"I want to buy a membership."

"Belle, drop the act. I'm not that good at-"

She looked at him in a serious tone. "No, Wise, I want buy a membership."

"Uhm, Belle? You own the store..."

"So?"

"That's enough with the joke, Belle." Wise said "It's not funny anymore, it's just confusing."

"The only thing that's confusing is that you told me to buy a membership and now you won't give me one."

"...Huh? Why do you want a membership?"

"Because you told me to!" Belle shouted. "Now just give me the membership!"

"That's the only reason you want a membership? Because I told you to? That was just an act that you started!"

"I don't need another reason!" Belle pleaded. "Just give me a membership!"

"Fine, if it'll make you stop!" Wise said, filling out a membership slip and handing it to Belle. Belle put some Dennies on the counter.

"What the hell was that?" Wise asked. "Was that part of your bit?"

"Huh? You asked me to do that and I did it. So I did."

"But it doesn't make any sense."

"You told me to, though."

"So if I told you anything, you'd do it, just because I told you to?"

"Not anything! Wise, don't get any perverted thoughts!"

"So, if I told you to get on the ground and dance like a chicken... what would you say?"

"What? No, that's ridiculous and embarrassing, Wise." Belle shouted.

"Alright. Get on the ground and dance like a chicken."

Immediately Belle crouched down on the ground and stuck her hands in her armpits. She began flapping her wings and waddling around the store, prancing and dancing around.

"CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK" she shouted.

"Belle... why'd you do that?"

"Huh? This again?" Belle asked, standing back up. "I did it because you told me to! You're acting weird today..."

"I'm acting weird?" Wise asked. "You just said you wouldn't do it if I told you to! And then I told you to, and you did it!"

"Yeah, because... I... uhhh..." Belle trailed, going deep in thought. "I said... I wouldn't do that? Why would I say that?"

As Wise argued with Belle, he suddenly got another fit of nausea as a voice echoed in his head.

"Control her... she will heed your every command..."

Wise didn't know where that voice came from. But what it was saying seemed to line up with everything that was occurring.

Could I control Belle? he thought. She is acting weird, obeying everything I say... I guess I need to test it and make sure. Tell her to do something that she would never do under normal circumstances.