Buck quietly hums a tune while playing his guitar, now fully in key again. The deer boy loses track of time for a bit, practicing his chords and riffs, his fingers dancing across the strings of his trusty instrument. Suddenly, he looks up from the instrument, as he returns to the here-and-now. The room is quiet. It’s been a while since Austin left mysteriously, and even longer since Luc left. They should be back by now considering the fact that they went out practically naked—Austin even more exposed in his jockstrap—but still, he remains the sole inhabitant of the room. He looks at the clock, then at the lone abandoned flyer addressed to nobody in particular, but meant for him. Curiosity gets the best of him, and the deer takes out his phone to scan the QR code. Instantly, the screen lights up with the spiral, and the deer squints, surprised by the sudden swirling colours. He continues to look at the center, an eyebrow raised, and smirks once the first message pops up on screen.
‘Stare. Do not look away.’
Buck chuckles to himself.
‘Really? Is this low effort hypno trap the thing that caught you two…?’ he whispers, addressing his two roommates who are both still absent. Then, the spiral fades away as a new message appears on screen.
‘Resistance detected.’
Rather than doubling down on the spiral, the form opens as usual. No spiral, just plain questions and open fields. Name, field of studies, bedroom preference.
Buck humors the form for a bit, typing in B-R-U-C-E, then C-O-N-S-E-R-V-A-T-O-R-Y, then ticking DOM.
The form progresses to a new page immediately once the field is ticked, and it takes him to a mostly empty page that gives him the dates for the exchange program, tells him that he’ll get student credit for it if he completes the onboarding and is accepted, and asks for a full-body picture. The deer raises his eyebrow again, checks his calendar, then closes the form without completing the application.
‘Whatever,’
~ ~ ~
A week passes, and the three flyers end up mostly forgotten. Neither Luc nor Austin remember much of their application, but regardless the excitement for their potential selection to the exchange remains. The thought of joining a group of other talented and eager students, all in wildly different fields, is a big appeal for the both of them. Then, as the three roommates are having dinner together, Austin suddenly gets a notification.
The wolf reaches down to pull out his phone, and quickly reads over the mail.
‘Ah! Looks like I’ve been accepted into that exchange. They’re coming to pick me up later tonight already,’ the wolf says. ‘Have you gotten a mail, Luc?’
The fennec takes out his phone as well, and right on time he gets a notification too.
‘Looks like I’m in too!’ the fennec responds.
Buck looks up from his pizza slice.
‘And they’re picking you up tonight as well…? That’s a little… short notice, no?’
‘It’s porn logic,’ Luc jokes as he rushes to finish his dinner. ‘We knew it was meant to start within two weeks so I’m sure there’s arrangements made behind the scene! Come, Austin, hurry up and let’s go pack our bags.’
The wolf boy responds with a nod, his maw stuffed with his own pizza.
‘Mmmph, you got it!’
Buck shakes his head and finishes his pizza.
‘You two are crazy. But have fun! Send pictures and stuff,’ the deer says as he finishes his own dinner.
The two walk back to their room together. Immediately, Luc and Austin reach for their suitcases that they arrived with, and toss a bunch of outfits in there. Right as Austin locks up his luggage, Luc gets a phone call from an unknown number. The fennec picks up and puts it on speaker.
‘Hello, this is Luc speaking?’
A deep, low voice appears on the other side of the phone line.
‘Good afternoon, Luc. Glad you could answer on such a short notice. Is your little canine roommate there as well?’
Austin blushes and leans in towards the phone.
‘Hi, y-yes, I’m here sir,’ the wolf replies, deeply flustered.
‘Good. Please, the both of you, join my associate at the parking lot outside of school for the exchange program.’
Without another word, the caller hangs up.
‘A bit patronizing, no?’ Buck says. ‘A bit shady, too.’
Luc chuckles.
‘Also a bit horny. Seems like they’ve got your number, Austin.’
‘S-shut up, let’s get moving. Don’t wanna keep them waiting,’ the wolf boy responds, already dragging his suitcase behind him.
As the two walk to the parking lot by the college, they notice an unmarked van idling with its lights still turned on, trunk opened. In front of the van, they both see a white synth, neatly dressed, leaning against the hood. The synth spots them both and politely waves, his yellow LED-eyes blinking on his visor. Once they’re within hearing range, the synth speaks up.
‘You two must be Luc and Austin, yes?’
He has a slow, lower voice. It’s very disarming, compared to the more sultry voice over the phone.
‘Y-yes, that’s us,’ Austin responds as he reaches out a handpaw to shake.
The synth smiles, a toothy grin as he opens up his visor-snout, illuminating a soft blue tongue complimenting his silver-gray elastic body and black three-piece suit.
‘Nice to meet you both.’
He grabs a firm hold of Austin’s handpaw, and suddenly and strongly yanks it towards him.
‘Sleep now.’ He commands firmly, and immediately Austin slumps forwards into the synth’s embrace. He carefully brings the wolf boy down to a seated position against the van, the wolf fully under his hypnotic spell already.
‘W-whoa now, w-wait a second,’ Luc stutters as he takes a step backwards.
‘Now now, Luc. No point in resisting. You signed up for this, you knew this was inevitable…’ the synth says as he approaches the fennec in the dark. His visor goes dark as his expression fades, before lighting up again with a gold and pink spiral, completely enveloping his visor.
‘Stare, fox boy. Let the spiral wash those worries and thoughts away…,’ the synth says as he stretches out, his long body approaching and encircling the Fennec.
As Luc stares at the synth gently but firmly wrapping around him, his vision starts to blur as he focuses on the spiral getting ever closer, becoming the only light in the darkness of the night at the parking lot. He stumbles backwards, falling into the elastic coils of the synth, and remains motionless as the synth scoops him up. The spiral visor is shoved right in front of his eyes, finally making way again for the yellow lights of his determined face to return. Then, a single word command.
Happy Hypnovember everybody! For 2026, I am writing a sequel to my story Exhibition Match, featuring the athletic Austin, theater kid Luc, and many many many cameos with my fans, friends and followers! --- Buck, the last of the three roommates, takes a shot at the application form. Then, finally, it's time for the exchange program to begin, as a van arrives to take them to the location. --- Featuring a cameo from Digi, the synth!
![Akko's Hypnovember 2026 Chapter 3 - Onboarding [A]](https://sf.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/6219/6219276_Akkobold_chapter_3_-_onboarding_a_.jpg "Akko's Hypnovember 2026 Chapter 3 - Onboarding [A]")
![Akko's Hypnovember 2026 Day 7 - Acceptance [A/L]](https://sf.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/6223/6223699_Akkobold_chapter_7_-_departure_a_l_.jpg "Akko's Hypnovember 2026 Day 7 - Acceptance [A/L]")
