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30- Puppet

Kai Tyde bobbed his foot as he drank a mai tai on the beach. watching screens of the various masterminds pull their trump cards.

Esme conditioning all the newcomers to also vote for her whenever they declared fealty to any of the master minds.

Cyndi molding the Yoga exercises to attain an infectious spiritual harmony to make others vote as she liked.

TwoTone turning one Darkwitt's agents into caricatures of hypnotic entertainment. softening them up into goons.

and Ante, Practically bending time and space to attain his goals.

In his rush to get time off, he chose some of the most effective, invasive, and borderline dangerous Masterminds since Dr. Bright.

Yet there he sat, slurping on his drink without a care in the world. leg resting its heel against his knee. bobbing his head as he heard steel drums and Dropset practice some squats with his beach bros.

Far in the back of the Dragon's head, he was dancing underneath silhouetted gloves.

"I'm in control." the Dragon on strings insisted.

"I'm a free spirited dragon. I love to see cognizant thrive and enjoy myself while doing it." He flexed and showed off inside his mental scape. like he was the star of a theatrical performance.  To the world he was still himself. a rocker dragon just lookin to party. To his Master, he was still on strings. He did not question why the simulation continued. he did not wonder what Darkwitt gained for playing its game. He was a puppet on strings. Still aware, still himself. merely just dancing along to the tune of another goal as if it was his own.

Darkwitt only had room for just a small extension of himself in moments like this. he was still in between planes. barely holding on to what he was beyond a passive observer. The more he stared at the billions of possibilities within the triangle, the easier it was to simply stay there. to observe merely because you had always been doing it. Accepting and absorbing witnessed events till the end of time.

He was no closer to an answer, and the longer he stayed, the less of himself remained.

So he stretched. extending into other possibilities on other planets and civilizations. sometimes an alternate of his home. other times merely alien worlds. finding the few influenced by him or capable of such. pushing into that space to project as a hologram, or as the latent conditioning he left behind.

He could barely feel or perceive it. but he could project reactions and goals in others under his effect.

Cognizant needed so much energy, and with as many competing, he needed Kai Tyde to keep things interesting. Each year, the power draw would grow. and Darkwitt might get closer and closer to coming back fully. Or better. harnessing it for an even greater ability to reach out and instill the new status quo he wanted.

With the newest event resulting the way it was predicted. he would have more power than ever.

He quietly worried the wisdom of recruiting a naga lord for the job. He didn't get to influence what Kai Tyde chose to go about his strategy. Or who he picked. his subconscious was on strings. but the Rocker was as unpredictable as ever.

Darkwitt waved a hand along the dancing dragon. He needed a more loyal work force. a group of employees to elevate the standard of what servants would be helping in the background.

On the surface, Kai Tyde continued to casually drink his cocktail. not realizing that he was already gestating a sudden 'impulse' to pursue facility 18's machinery.

The Drones would be a vital part of this project.

Let's just hope the canine would exist long enough to see it come to fruition.

I still can't believe this.

Currently all of the masterminds are at 44. All poised to win simultaneously. I'm overjoyed at how much you like these characters. but also surprised it went like this. I hope that the future Hypnovembers become more successful as I try to do more art. But I have to thank so many people for volunteering their ideas and artwork to keep the ball rolling.

Th3yr, Flarfenarfle, DuckkingXI, Apexrex, Impossible-Ace, attikipp, shibe, kade, checkerfox, Sabri, Artemis, and so many others for making this all happen. Creating artwork, roleplaying the characters, and enjoying my late night banter sessions writing up exchanges for the Masterminds.

I apologize for being a little inconscistent this year. it's been very busy and very challenging to stay present this year. but I'm glad this has become such a staple of my productivity.

art by HyuugaTakuto