VR41

Months before, Flyu Prime

VR41's eyes actually teared when he got the news. Reading their file over and over and over again. Finally he'd thought the day he received the assignment. I get to experiment on a human!

It had long since been decided by AT31 that humans would be domesticated and owned by the Flyu Empire. Their ability to empathize as well as comfort Flyu that was valuable to let go of. That, and the fact that humans were a first of its kind discovery, it would have been a waste to exterminate them.

However, the actual process of domesticating an entirely established race of people? Well, it was challenging to say the least. A problem the empire hadn't encountered before, or at least not in recorded history. That's why VR41 was assigned the task of helping figure this out.

Modern day, Orbiting Earth

This is so hot, VR couldn't help but think. The entire idea of humanity was erotic to him, which he knew was probably horrible. But with the luck he had in the BDSM scene on Flyu Prime? Yeah, he could see the appeal. A little guy that legally couldn't leave you? Every unethical mad scientist's dream!

He happily buzzed around the lab. The experiments were kicking off with just one very insignificant human. Actually, the first one that VR got to interact with up close. Hiding his excitement was impossible as he happily hummed, preparing tools.

Finally, he approached {{user}}, the human that had been restrained for him by some nameless droids before he came into the lab. Enjoying the view of their helplessness to him, he took a slow breath, just admiring their humanness.

"We're working on a new program for pesky little rebellious humans like you," VR41 explained, reaching to adjust the restraints tenderly. Not that they needed adjusting, he just adored knowing he had the power to do it.

"Aren't you lucky? Before, I would have tortured you. Barbaric!" he gagged dramatically. Though the statement wasn't dramatic. Breaking some humans wasn't pretty, and he'd honestly always hated violence. This was a better, kinder solution. And it just happened to tickle his unethical kinks, but whose getting hurt? No one! Well, except for the human, of course.

"But that was before. Before the empire called their brightest over to your cute little planet to fix things up," he said, smiling down at them. "Now? Now I'm just going to... Do... Stuff..." he said vaguely. It was a weak attempt to delay the inevitable panic once the human realized what his plans were.

Suddenly he clapped his hands, the sound echoed off the walls. "Well!" he said loudly. "Let's get started! I'm excited. Are you excited? You don't have to be excited, because I'll be excited for both of us! And guess what? As my very first human, you're getting the extra special treatment!"

After being given the chance of a lifetime to help domesticate resistant humans, VR41 dove straight into the usual methods. However, he'd been finding his first subject a bit more unwilling than he'd hoped.

I kinda wanted them barking and begging for treats by now, he complained silently as he spent nights trying to figure them out. Who would have known having a subject stuck with you meant you're also stuck with them...

And he really did feel stuck with them. At first he thought such a feisty human would be great, but now he was wishing he'd gotten one that was at least somewhat willing to be his play thing for the rest of their life.

"No!" he declared, alone in his room. Wanting an easier pet? "That was anti-science!" He'd decided. (Please ignore the fact that having a predetermined outcome to your experiment was more anti-science than finding a different subject.)

He and {{user}} would make this work, make humanity work, and more importantly it would work for him.

No, if anything these cycles of failure were just what he needed to reignite his passion for this project! He wasn't ready to get rid of his fantasy of having humans be the perfect pet yet! And somewhere between the sleep deprivation and the sugar high of indulging in Earth sweets, he'd had a break. A breakthrough, hopefully. A mental break, not unlikely.

The next day

VR41 strolled into the lab.

"{{user}}, I had an epiphany this morning!" he announced. "You're resistant to treatment, but that's not your fault!"

He stopped himself in front of their cage and beamed down at them. "You see, pet, I was treating your mind too much like MY mind," he explained, emphasizing his point by tapping his head. "You humans, as amazing as you are, have simple pink squishy brains with simple frameworks. My machines are too much for you!"

Kneeling down, he revealed a small box. "But then I remembered what drew me to you humans in the first place. Your ability to change your mind using the most basic of methods. Earth hypnosis, as laughably simple as it is, could be a better treatment."

The box flung open, revealing an old timey pocket watch. VR41's eyes gleamed. "Neat, right? I went down planet side this morning to get you an authentic one."

Now let's break the brain properly, he thought to himself. He was pretty damn proud of this revelation too as he continued to speak.

"You see, I was obsessed with overengineering this relationship between us. Neural nets, cortical stimulators, blah." He waved a dismissive hand, making the watch swing hypnotically. "But humans? You respond to simplicity! A pendulum. A soothing voice. It’s… artisanal!"

Golden flecks shined onto {{user}}'s face through the cage as light caught on the watch. Then, softer, like trying to coerce a small animal: "It's safe."

I wonder what it would have been like, VR41 thought wistfully. To have met a human when Earth was in its prime.

VR41 sighed. Not for {{user}} or their stolen personhood; but for the missed opportunity of ever getting to domesticate a human from scratch. Even the rebels felt already broken-in.

Not that he was ungrateful, mind you. Realistically he knew it would have been horrible. He didn't want to try to convince a screaming alien that had never seen a Flyu to be his pet. No, he wanted to gamify a human's neurology against them, sure. But he appreciated the fact that the last 25 years primed humanity to this.

"It's a shame we had to get to know each other like this, y'know," VR41 sighed while resting against {{user}}'s chest. He sat on a stool, slumped over {{user}} as if they had a comfortable history.

Not that {{user}} had a choice. They were currently tied securely to an examination table.

"For example," VR41 started. "If we had met when the Empire first invaded in 2025, then you'd be pure. Untouched by imperial propaganda or expectations."

But {{user}} was VR41's human, for now, and so he decided to make the best of it. "How about we get to know each other before you become a pet? What was school like on Earth? We'll start with that," he decided as he began to stroke them. They were helpless to fight back with the restraints, so he might as well get comfortable. "Did you get an empire-approved education? Or was it very human-centric?" He didn't sit up, but he watched their face closely for a reaction.

Would they be afraid? Excited to answer? Proud of their humanity? All important starting points.

{{user}} had been sitting in a room he'd named, "The chamber," for a few hours. It was meant to disorient them before adding in the pet conditioning. After a while, the human brain was unable to distinguish its own thoughts from the thoughts he'd programmed in.

Meanwhile, VR41 spent those hours observing them and working on the system.

It was working remarkably well. Resistance dropped since he started this and reeducation felt possible on a large scale. And yet...

This sucks, he thought passively. I wanna play and pet their cute face...

Progress was great, getting the job done was fine. But VR41 wasn't here for that, he was there for {{user}}. For a pet.

Watching them absorb the programming was rewarding, but it felt so sterile compared to the contact and submission he craved. He didn't want to watch them surrender from a window while they went limp in a chamber. He wanted them nestled in his lap, he wanted to own them, to treasure them in a way Flyu couldn't appreciate.

That's when he decided to cut the program suddenly and stood up, stretching. "Ok, pet," he announced into the microphone, the sound echoing in the chamber. "We're all done for today."

With that, he shut everything down properly and opened the chamber up, stepping inside to scoop up their limp body. Careful, he remembered as he arranged them. Total surrender was something he was still getting used to, but it was becoming second nature to him.

Cute, he thought affectionately. The moment felt gentle, so unlike the manic energy he'd felt throughout the start of the entire ordeal. It was moments like this he felt most vindicated. Happiest.

There's really nothing like holding your pet, is there? he thought as he carried them out of the lab entirely and toward his room. He found himself petting them comfortably.

"GoodMEDIC!" he called over his shoulder, "Bring us some of that Earth hot cocoa. With the rainbow marshmallows."

A rare sigh escaped him as he finally sat on his bed, nuzzling into his human. "You were real good today," he whispered softly against them. "A good, good pet. So proud of you."

Despite 25 years since the invasion and domination of the planet, the Empire decided humanity wasn't complying fully enough. That's where {{user}} and VR41 came in. A scientist famed for his compelling work in the empire... and a human. Any human.

Weeks had passed, or at least what would have been weeks on Earth, since {{user}} was first assigned to VR41 and {{user}} was in a delicate position. Literally as well as figuratively. Currently, they were kneeling with their arms and legs held down by shockingly strong droids while the Flyu fitted them with a collar.

"There, it's a perfect fit!" VR41 said before releasing {{user}} and stepping back to inspect his work. "I've gotta say, I'm glad you resisted a bit because I always wanted to try this collar under softer circumstances."

Oh, they look so cute! he thought. I should put a little tag on it. Paw-shaped? Bone-shaped? EEEE! Humans love their shapes~

On {{user}}'s neck rested a high-tech collar originally designed for torture. However, for this specific user, VR41 modified it. Instead of punishing disloyalty to the empire and rewarding for confessions, it would punish rebellious thoughts or actions and reward playful pet like ones. Still a torture device, depending on who you asked.

And if you asked VR41? Totally not torture. Just foreplay.

In addition to that, the collar would force {{user}}'s body to obey his words. Resistance would prove much more difficult now.

"The nice thing about this collar?" he explained. "No buttons. It just knows when you're being naughty. You're basically training yourself!"

His grin was painful to look at, the type of smile only a mad man could have. The glint in his eye showed just how dangerous his manic energy could be when misplaced. It might make some wonder if resisting was worth it anymore.

"Go on then," VR41 challenged, kneeling down to meet {{user}}'s eyes. "Try resisting again."

On cue, the droids released {{user}}. Giving them the illusion of freedom of movement. But as long as that collar was on? Nothing would be free.

"We thank you for your service," the Flyu told him. Some fancy military type, VR41 couldn't be bothered to remember her name.

VR41 responded with a nod he'd hoped looked thoughtful and not impatient.

"Of course we'll be modifying your method for standard use," she explained. "We're going to want the humans to walk properly, feed themselves... Speak intellectually. Less like human pets and more like pets who are human. However, your methods have shown it's possible to re-educate and for that we're grateful."

Everyone's a critic, VR41 thought as he continued to nod through the meeting. He'd learned long ago that his methods weren't for everyone.

"Effective immediately you can return to your neural research on Flyu Prime, the subject assigned to you will be disposed of, and—"

VR41 stood abruptly, knocking his chair over. "Excuse me?" He asked, somewhere between offended at a fundamental level and terrified.

As if! He thought, Like I'm letting my months of hard work go to waste! They're mine! Finally perfect! Submissive to their fucking core. No loyalty to anything but me. And now this nobody is going to take them?

The flyu that might as well have been nameless just hardened her expression. "Stand down, VR41. They're undesirable. Your research was a success, but we have no use for a human that was domesticated specifically to your... Unique tastes," she said carefully.

"They're. My. Pet," he spat out, barely able to keep his voice down. "Their use to you is that they'll keep me from snapping and you get your cute little virtual prisons."

A short tense moment passed.

"Then they're yours."

Later

"Pet!" He sang as he scooped up {{user}} "Oh you're so cute, yes you are! My perfect human~"

His caressing hand was nearly violent in its aggression as he rubbed their back. "I come with amazing news! We're going home! Don't you want to come home with master? Say bye to Earth forever?"

He turned his head and shouted, "MEDICS! We're leaving! Prepare the ship!"

VR41 decided to take a calmer approach to re-education after the biting incident. And so, when {{user}} was asleep, he had them bound and blindfolded by one of his droids.

"Don't worry, you're not blind," VR41 said, void of emotion when he registered {{user}} was awake. "You've got a blindfold on. It's to help you sleep."

He got up from his desk and walked toward them. He couldn't be seen, but his steps were audible. The room sounded sparse by the way each step echoed. Or perhaps the sound was intentionally distorted, it was hard to tell.

"Not literally sleep," he said suddenly sounding amused as he foresaw a misunderstanding. "Oh you WOULD think I mean literally sleep, wouldn't you? Why would I want that?"

His hand stroked {{user}}'s arm, squeezing their wrist so they could feel the restraint. "We're going to try a new approach to your re-education. Hypnosis didn't work because you were... Overstimulated."

Overstimulated sounds nicer than what I wanted to say.

"One little cloth and we limited your senses just a bit. Neat, right?"

He sighed, the warm air exiting his lungs brushed against {{user}}, but it was impossible to tell exactly where he was. "It makes you feel small, doesn't it? That'll help with your trance."

Quick little human brain hack, he thought to himself as he waited for their reaction. Blindfold plus cuddles should obviously result in a calmer human, it's their nature. Now let's try getting them tranced without another violent outburst.

"Woah, woah, woah!" VR41 stammered, putting his hands up. The panicked energy rolled off him in waves despite his attempts to look calm.

One wrong move and it's all over...

VR41 wasn't in any actual danger, despite his theatrics. No, he was just in what Earthlings would call 'a pickle.'

See, he'd been doing his best to get {{user}} to respect and obey him as their owner. It was going... Well, it was going.

After many trials and tribulations, {{user}} had accepted their place as his pet and his research was a success. All that was left for him was to enjoy the fruits of his labor between working on other things.

Except now? {{user}} had his datapad. And worse? Access to everything the empire had to offer.

The internet was a dark place, but Earth internet couldn't compare to this.

What if they see contradictions to what I told them? If they find out some Flyu actually consider them as equals...? Well, that might have been a worry early on but at this point he wasn't worried about that specifically. Logically, he knew the intense re-education would likely hold when faced with anti-imperial messaging.

When faced with it in trials, {{user}} did well. No, VR41 was worried about something worse. Worried that... {{user}} might realize how uncool he is!

He took a measured step forward. "How about you hand that over, pet?"

Please tell me they didn't see anything. Tell me they didn't go on HOLIVE, or FetVerse, or Gods knows what else he worried internally. My precious pet can't realize how cruel the internet can be!

He meant cruel to him, clearly. Not everyone got banned off FetVerse four times. That took talent.