One year.

It had been one year since the grand experiment concluded and Darkwitt disappeared through the void. Intended to convert the loss of free will into a power source, Project Cognizant’s neural nexus masqueraded as a competition for the best and brightest Hypnotists and subjects to compete for conquest. Carefully selected based on their psychological profile and skill sets. By the end of the exchange, the rock star Kai Tyde came out on top.


For the first few months, he was in over his head. What he initially thought of as the party that would never end was filled with itineraries, logistics, programming maintenance. He was used to concerts, bright lights and pyrotechnics coalescing into one big performance followed by an afterglow of booze and bitches.


But this was a pregame that never seemed to finish, and never got to the good bits.


Once that rock star feeling wore off from Nymfi and Rockjaw, Kai offered them a chance to help manage things. Nymfi handled the outskirts of the island, and Rockjaw handled the logistics of law enforcement and registration. Kai handled announcements, general management, and, most importantly, festivities. There was Rock night, Partyfest, GlamJam, and that one special event with the Goth rockers, that was REALLY thinking outside the box. But as the months went by, it was clear there was some je ne sais qoi that Darkwitt had the big rocker dragon lacked.


Cognizant was more popular than ever, now advertised as a digital vacation spot. Public facilities were opened for long term stays while others treated the locale like a metaverse they could pop in and out of at their leisure. Cognitive power never wavered under 2000 people at any given time, and its peak was close to the population of a small country. Kai Tyde wasn’t too keen on Darkwitt burying the lead about the nature of the place, so he made it abundantly clear with as many content warnings before people entered the space that they might change their species, personality, and identity, at least temporarily while in the space. He even brought notice to a failsafe program to eject that was already installed but conveniently under-advertised until Darkwitt was gone. Attendance was fine, but Kai Tyde was getting antsy. He couldn’t micromanage all the territories and handle advertising and do meeting after meeting day after day! He needed to rock out! He needed to party! He needed…

He needed Jasper.

Jasper was reluctant to hook into Cognizant. When his brother told him about the digital hook up, he immediately assumed his brother was hijacked by Skynet or something. But a few puppy dog faces and Kai’s little nerd brother was on the server. He wasn’t ready for a few things once he entered Cognizant. First was the sprawling size of the island. He assumed it would be a dozen rooms with loading screens, but everything seemed to be in real time, all loaded in at once. Second was Kai Tyde’s appearance. Instead of the usual wild rocker attire Jasper was used to seeing, Kai Tyde was wearing a silhouetted business suit. But instead of the cyan lines Darkwitt had, Kai had purple. Complete with a tie showing off his logo. Kai even cleaned up to complete the look. Instead of the flash of glamrock hair everyone knew him by, he had the mane coiffed and slicked back. It made Jasper a little apprehensive, Kai Tyde always did say he didn’t like the man, and now he looked the part.  Lastly, Kai played a bit of a fast one on his younger brother. Instead of the usual 5’6 bespectacled dragon with short brown hair that he was expecting to see in the mirror, Jasper was presented with a 6 foot tall Dragon with glam rocker lightning bolt tattoos, a blast of blonde hair that cascaded down his shoulders with a lightning bolt of crimson, and a leather vest that exposed a pair of pecs that he would have never been able to reproduce in life. He looked like his brother’s palate swap.

“Damn it, Kai! This is your shit not mine!” Jasper threw off the leather vest, leaving him shirtless before the jacket digitally reprinted back onto his chest. The rocker dragon threw his head back and laughed.

“Chill Brolimanjaro, no need to erupt! It’s all in good fun, right? You can look like anything here, it’s cool!” Kai gave his brother a big bear hug, now that they were both the same height; it wasn’t as smothering as Jasper was used to.

“I’d rather look like myself…” The blonde dragon pouted. Kai Tyde strode over to the desk and turned on the security monitors showing off cognizant.

“So! Whaddyathink of my kingdom?! Sick right? I get a big office, concerts whenever I want! I’m like the face of this bitch!” He plopped into the chair with enough force to roll it out away from the desk so he could spin in it once or twice. Jasper couldn’t help but fold his arms.

“Really? Sounds like your paradise. All play and no work, Is that why you’re dressed like Dad?”

“Now that’s just a low blow. I’m dressed like Boss. Nh. Still keep calling him that.” The dragon shook his head like waking from sleep for a second before getting back up.
“Look man I need help. I wanna kick back some but there’s so much SHIT to do. I tried giving them parties, concerts, garage band sesh, I even hired a death metal band to come in and perform! They want something else. I didn’t think people would get bored of just partying all the time!”

Jasper gave a quiet but understanding nod and sat down in front of the desk.

“Well, maybe you’ve been focused so much on work that you haven’t really had time to think of something new. What about the other masterminds? Maybe they got ideas.”

“Ehh, Nymfi keeps proposing orgies, Rockjaw’s boring and Dr. Bright’s…..gone.” The dragon folded his arms and leaned back in his chair.

“Maan, runnin’ shit was supposed to be a big party all the time! Boss shoulda told me it would have been this much work.” Kai threw up his hands and spun circles before going limp in the executive recliner. Jasper rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“So… Do you HAVE to use Nymfi and Rockjaw to come up with ideas? Maybe your problem is you’re not built to do what Darkwitt does. He’s micromanaged stuff his whole life, you’re the idea guy, the mascot.” Jasper wasn’t wrong. Kai Tyde had managers, executives, people who were able to emulate the big picture. The Vision he always had never went away, but there was only so much one guy could do.

Kai Tyde clapped his hands together and lept out of his chair.

“Welp. What say we borrow a little from Boss’ playbook and have us a little contest? Get some excitement going!”

“Well. Maybe you should start small. You don’t want people thinking you’re giving up.” Jasper looked down at his tumorous pecs and frowned, half distracted by his digital form.

“Nah nah, nothin’ like that. I’m still top dog around here…” Kai Tyde grinned darkly as he approached the window, looking down at the sprawling concrete jungle of the Focault with mischievous intent.

“But nobody said I had to be the only Mastermind.”

Did you think I'd sit by, Cognites? 

Welcome to 2023's Hypnovember. A much smaller, less focused affair, as I do not have the time or budget to make as big a spectactle as last year. But still. Kai Tyde has gotten big britches while he was here, and the center of the city is up for grabs. 

Who will be the Lieutenant Mastermind of the Focault? 

Will it be...

The Gruesome Gangster with a bloody glare?

The Jet Setting Tagger with their entrancing Rattlecans?

The Wellness Focused Weightlifter with a balcony you could quote shakespeare off of?

or the Auspicious Anchor with the glowing puff piece? 

Prompts will be coming soon. 

I won't have art or stories for every prompt this year. but, Once again, we'll be doing RP and otherwise in the Project Cognizant server. Posts and votes will be there for everyone as we show off more features of them and let everyone do what they want with the characters. :) 

I'll also be doing some other things this month: 
1. Hallow's Eve at Vaim Manor: Vaim Manor has disappeared, and Vincent must do the unthinkable in order to get it back... he must ask the Bookshop Skunk for help. I plan to release on halloween. I hope.

2. Meditation with Krystal ASMR: Estelle Ellis is planning on recording this month, and I aim to try and have the production be rather involved, as much as an episode of tip of the triangle. it will be released, free, as my way of saying thanks for everyone's assistance at the start of this year. With original artwork by Yawg (I plan to learn animation in after effects but if anyone wants to teach me, I'd greatly appreciate it.)

3. Project Cognizant Alternate Endings: I know I planned to write these a while back. but life got the better of me. I still have in mind what I want to write, it's just a matter of getting them on paper of what would have happened if the other masterminds would have won.


4. Should I get Sleepy?: A Collaboration with Lager about Hypnosis Safety and a primer on where to get started.

Remain Cognizant, Folks.

Art of Kai by Scittykitty
Mastermind Logos designed by myself and AlextheGryphon