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"The Collar of Control: A Tale of Mindless Muscle"

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Fitness, Gym, Control, Horror, Nightmare in the style of Monet
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Hank Green had always been a paragon of physical excellence. In his early thirties, he sported a physique that was the envy of many and the aspiration of many more. Rigorous workouts and an unwavering commitment to fitness had sculpted his body into that of a Greek statue, all while maintaining a charming demeanor that masked the struggles he endured to stay on top. But nothing prepared him for the day everything would change.

It began like any other Wednesday, with Hank heading to his usual spot for a grueling arm and chest day. As he approached the gym’s front desk, he noticed an unfamiliar face. The new attendant, a lanky man with a calculating gaze, greeted him with a crooked smile.

"Hey, Hank! I've seen you around. We've got a new fitness monitoring program we're trying out; it enhances your performance tracking. You interested?" The attendant’s voice had an unsettling edge to it, but Hank's curiosity got the better of him.

The attendant produced a thin leather collar with a digital display. “This will record all your biometrics while you work out. It’s state-of-the-art stuff.”

Hank, always in pursuit of peak performance, nodded eagerly. "Sure, why not? Hook me up."

With the new device fastened around his neck, Hank proceeded to the locker room to change. As he looked in the mirror, he noticed the collar's digital display showing a full battery icon and a single bar indicating that the recording had started. Satisfied, he left to begin his routine.

Every set, every rep made the progress bar illuminate further. By the time he finished his intense workout, the icon glowed a full, vibrant green. Drenched in sweat and brimming with satisfaction, Hank headed to the sauna for the usual post-workout sweat session.

Alone in the steamy chamber, Hank felt an odd, pulsating vibration from the collar. It started as a slight buzz but quickly intensified. The sensation was strange, almost like a swarm of bees having a dance party around his neck. Before he knew it, the vibrations took over, drowning out all other sensations in his body. Panic set in as his limbs went numb, then his torso.

Suddenly, the vibrations halted. Hank's entire body felt foreign and detached, his head heavy. He struggled to maintain balance until he no longer could; his head tumbled off his neck, landing with a sickening thud on the bench. Time slowed as he processed what he saw—the rest of his body, perfectly still, the collar’s display a mesmerizing green glow.

To Hank’s horror, his body, now devoid of his control, pushed itself up, breathing deeply through the sauna's humid air. He could see through the fogged glass out of the corner of his eye but was powerless to call for help. He could only watch, helpless and silent, as the gym cleared out, leaving him alone in eerie silence.

His body bent down, retrieved his head carefully, and exited the sauna. A sign, "Out of Order," hung on the door, explaining why no one had disturbed his grisly solitude. Hank’s mind reeled at the realization that it had been premeditated.

In the locker room, his body methodically went through the motions—changing, showering, and packing up. It all felt surreal as it carried his head to the front desk where the attendant awaited.

"Perfect," the attendant crooned, his smile widening. “Follow me.”

The body obeyed, discarding everything it held except Hank’s head. Under the attendant’s direction, it struck various bodybuilding poses, showcasing Hank’s hard-earned muscles. Satisfied, the attendant tucked Hank’s head into the car's backseat, hidden from view as they drove to an unknown destination.

Upon arrival, Hank was assaulted by a macabre sight—an entire wall filled with severed heads, all displaying the same fitness model or bodybuilder visage. Their eyes glared lifelessly in dim light, each head perched perfectly as if on display in a deranged gallery. Hank recognized the gym’s usual attendant among them, rounding out a collection that reeked of dark intent.

His body, still under the attendant's command, carried him through the house with precision, finally reaching a basement where other headless bodies convened around a single, high-backed chair. The attendant guided Hank’s body to sit. The moment it did, the collar's display shifted to red, pulsing in sequence with the room’s sinister ambiance.

As the collars on the other bodies flashed green in unison, Hank’s body disconnected from his consciousness. The bodies dispersed silently, resuming their respective tasks around the house. Hank’s body, now part of the collective, relocated him to an empty niche on the gruesome gallery wall, adding him to the freakish trophy case.

Utterly powerless, Hank understood the true horror—the attendant’s telepathic dominion over these stolen vessels, each one fulfilling roles that ranged from menial tasks to bizarre performances. He had been forcefully integrated into the sinister hive mind, his beloved body acting as little more than a puppet.

As his world dimmed against the ghastly glow of the digital display, Hank mentally screamed into the void. He was nothing more than another trophy, entrapped in an eternal nightmare beneath the serene mask of fitness and strength.

This story was generated by user bud with assistance by one of OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation model; prompts used to help generate the story are shown below.

Images were generated with OpenAI's AI system, DALL·E 2, or uploaded by the user.

AI Prompts

Prompt: write a story about a man named Hank, a strong, strapping in his 30s who works out regularly to maintain his fitness model physique. one day he goes to the gym's front desk and checks in with the attendant, a new guy and not the one he usually sees. as he starts to head to the gym, the attendant asks Hank if he would like to participate in a new fitness monitoring program. the attendant shows him a thin leather collar with a digital display on it, describing it as a data recording device that records various biometrics as he works out. Hank is intrigued and agrees, takes a collar and goes to the locker room. after changing into his workout clothes, he puts on the collar, adjusts it to fit, then takes a look in the mirror before starting his workout. Hank notices the collar's displays a few symbols, what appeared like battery icon showing a full charge, and a progress bar with a single bar showing that recording has started. Hank walks out to the gym floor and starts his usual routine for that day, which happens to be arm and chest day. As he finishes the sets of each exercise, he notices that an additional progress bar illuminates. By the time Hank has finished his entire routine, the progress bar is now full and glowing bright green. Hank walks to the sauna for a post-workout sweat. As he sits alone in the steamy air, he feels the collar start to buzz, slight vibrations that increase in intensity after every few seconds. Hank then starts to feel dizzy and leans against sauna wall and holds himself steady with his arms pressed against the bench. The intensity of the vibrations become strong, and he feels like they are downing out his sensation of over his body. The vibrations come to a sudden halt, and Hank discovers that he has become completely numb below his neck. He gets the strange feeling of his head starting to tilt. His view starts to spin as his head tumbles from his neck, and his head lands with a thud on the bench seat. Hank sees the rest of himself still sitting as before; the display on the collar now was entirely a bright glowing green. After a minute that seemed like an eternity, the display goes black, and Hank watches his body push itself off the bench with its hands and stand up then remain perfectly, its chest moving with deep breaths of the humid air. Hank sees the shadows of people walking past the sauna's fogged glass door and tries to call out for help, but the without lungs his head can only mouth silent pleas. Hank helplessly listens as the voices coming from the gym die down until there is complete silence. Hank's body begins to move, bends down, picks up the head, then exits the sauna to an empty gym. Hank notices that someone had placed an out-of-order sign on the sauna door after he had entered, explaining why no one else was using the sauna. When the body enters the locker room, it puts Hank's head on the counter then goes to shower itself. When it returns, Hank watches it go to his locker, dial the combination to the padlock, take out Hank's clothes and dress itself. Fully-dressed, the body put the workout clothes in Hank's gym back, collects Hank's head, then walks to the front desk where Hank sees the new attendant waiting there expectantly. Hank looks on angrily as the attendant give his body instructions which it unquestioningly obeys, first to drop everything it is carrying and perform bodybuilding poses. The attendant smiles approvingly as the body showcases its well-developed muscles. Satisfied with the body's condition, the attendant picks up Hank's head and tells his body to follow him to the car. The attendant opens the car's passenger side door for Hank's body to climb in and sit, and puts Hank's head on the backseat floor, hidden out of view. The attendant gets into the driver's seat, starts the engine and starts driving to the parking garage exit. As he pulls out of the parking garage and starts driving on the the road, the attendant tells Hank that he has been watching him for a while. To Hank's confusion, the attendant also says he was glad that today presented the opportunity to add him to his collection. When they reach their destination, the attendant picks up Hank's head and instructs the body to follow him into the house. Once inside, Hank is shocked to find an array of heads placed in a set of wall niches. One head was of the gym's usual attendant, and the others were of fitness model and bodybuilder gym regulars. Sounds of activity came from other rooms in the house, and now and then a muscular headless body wearing an identical collar would enter the room, walking past in purposeful strides on its way another part of the house. The attendant gives Hank's head to his body to carry, and as he leads it to the basement, headless bodies throughout the house appear to obey an unspoken command to gather behind and follow. when the last one arrives the bodies form into ranks around a solitary high-backed chair in the middle of the room. the attendant tells Hank's body to sit in the chair. the attendant explains to Hank that the bodies in the house form a collective that is telepathically commanded by him. the attendant describes that similar to a person controlling a body that thought, he controls collective except the same way; whatever action he decides, and the bodies will work together to carry out it out, taking advantage of each body's skills and abilities. the attendant tells Hank that his body will now be integrated to the collective. the chair's headrest and collar on Hank's body start to glow in a series of red slow pulses for several minutes, and then in unison the collars on the bodies flash green, including Hank's. in complete silence the bodies leave to continue their tasks except for Hank's body. Disconnected from Hank and compelled by the attendant's will, the body stands up, walks to Hank's head, picks it up, and takes it to one of the vacant wall niches to join the other captive heads.

Response: Hank Green had always been a paragon of physical excellence. In his early thirties, he sported a physique that was the envy of many and the aspiration of many more. Rigorous workouts and an unwavering commitment to fitness had sculpted his body into that of a Greek statue, all while maintaining a charming demeanor that masked the struggles he endured to stay on top. But nothing prepared him for the day everything would change. It began like any other Wednesday, with Hank heading to his usual spot for a grueling arm and chest day. As he approached the gym’s front desk, he noticed an unfamiliar face. The new attendant, a lanky man with a calculating gaze, greeted him with a crooked smile. "Hey, Hank! I've seen you around. We've got a new fitness monitoring program we're trying out; it enhances your performance tracking. You interested?" The attendant’s voice had an unsettling edge to it, but Hank's curiosity got the better of him. The attendant produced a thin leather collar with a digital display. “This will record all your biometrics while you work out. It’s state-of-the-art stuff.” Hank, always in pursuit of peak performance, nodded eagerly. "Sure, why not? Hook me up." With the new device fastened around his neck, Hank proceeded to the locker room to change. As he looked in the mirror, he noticed the collar's digital display showing a full battery icon and a single bar indicating that the recording had started. Satisfied, he left to begin his routine. Every set, every rep made the progress bar illuminate further. By the time he finished his intense workout, the icon glowed a full, vibrant green. Drenched in sweat and brimming with satisfaction, Hank headed to the sauna for the usual post-workout sweat session. Alone in the steamy chamber, Hank felt an odd, pulsating vibration from the collar. It started as a slight buzz but quickly intensified. The sensation was strange, almost like a swarm of bees having a dance party around his neck. Before he knew it, the vibrations took over, drowning out all other sensations in his body. Panic set in as his limbs went numb, then his torso. Suddenly, the vibrations halted. Hank's entire body felt foreign and detached, his head heavy. He struggled to maintain balance until he no longer could; his head tumbled off his neck, landing with a sickening thud on the bench. Time slowed as he processed what he saw—the rest of his body, perfectly still, the collar’s display a mesmerizing green glow. To Hank’s horror, his body, now devoid of his control, pushed itself up, breathing deeply through the sauna's humid air. He could see through the fogged glass out of the corner of his eye but was powerless to call for help. He could only watch, helpless and silent, as the gym cleared out, leaving him alone in eerie silence. His body bent down, retrieved his head carefully, and exited the sauna. A sign, "Out of Order," hung on the door, explaining why no one had disturbed his grisly solitude. Hank’s mind reeled at the realization that it had been premeditated. In the locker room, his body methodically went through the motions—changing, showering, and packing up. It all felt surreal as it carried his head to the front desk where the attendant awaited. "Perfect," the attendant crooned, his smile widening. “Follow me.” The body obeyed, discarding everything it held except Hank’s head. Under the attendant’s direction, it struck various bodybuilding poses, showcasing Hank’s hard-earned muscles. Satisfied, the attendant tucked Hank’s head into the car's backseat, hidden from view as they drove to an unknown destination. Upon arrival, Hank was assaulted by a macabre sight—an entire wall filled with severed heads, all displaying the same fitness model or bodybuilder visage. Their eyes glared lifelessly in dim light, each head perched perfectly as if on display in a deranged gallery. Hank recognized the gym’s usual attendant among them, rounding out a collection that reeked of dark intent. His body, still under the attendant's command, carried him through the house with precision, finally reaching a basement where other headless bodies convened around a single, high-backed chair. The attendant guided Hank’s body to sit. The moment it did, the collar's display shifted to red, pulsing in sequence with the room’s sinister ambiance. As the collars on the other bodies flashed green in unison, Hank’s body disconnected from his consciousness. The bodies dispersed silently, resuming their respective tasks around the house. Hank’s body, now part of the collective, relocated him to an empty niche on the gruesome gallery wall, adding him to the freakish trophy case. Utterly powerless, Hank understood the true horror—the attendant’s telepathic dominion over these stolen vessels, each one fulfilling roles that ranged from menial tasks to bizarre performances. He had been forcefully integrated into the sinister hive mind, his beloved body acting as little more than a puppet. As his world dimmed against the ghastly glow of the digital display, Hank mentally screamed into the void. He was nothing more than another trophy, entrapped in an eternal nightmare beneath the serene mask of fitness and strength.

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