Windstone hesitated, the pause intentional, as if he were still testing the reliability of the information. "According to the Duchess… partially. Count Velloran claims he began breaking through the conditioning after Benedict's disappearance, but the process has been… erratic. He describes episodes of disorientation, gaps in memory, and something he calls ghost triggers, instinctive reactions to commands he no longer hears."
Trevor's brow furrowed slightly, the faintest sign of unease. "Residual pheromonal influence."
"Precisely," Windstone said. "The Duchess had her physicians examine him. The results show biochemical markers consistent with forced neural imprinting. It appears Benedict's pheromones can override an individual's mental pathways and not merely compel behavior but rewrite the response to scent-based stimuli."
