“His status is further complicated by prior trauma. He does not get easily aroused nor does he make use of toys for soothing purposes, though he should. His prior experience with Dominants is minimal and highly negative. But he’s enhanced enough that the drugs are simply not possible. His metabolism is too high, and he’s had surgeries he shouldn’t, which means his own hormone production isn’t normal. We’re trying to supplement him and even him out, but he’s burning through everything we give him and I don’t know whether he’s so shut down, he isn’t producing the right hormones, or whether it’s because of what they did to him. A lot of what was done to him is classified. And because it all failed and was experimental, I’ll never get my hands on the files. No one will.”

“I assume the general was trying to make him Dominant? Isn’t that what every experimental submissive surgery is meant to do?”

“He has a twin brother who was treated at the same time. He came out null.”

“I’ve never met a null,” Liam says, voice flat. It’s bullshit as far as he can tell. A submissive doing self-harm to pass as not submissive. But they’re certainly not Dominant. He’s only met a few, and rumor is they become submissive eventually.

“The general is convinced. He wants that for Daniel.”

“Sure. And I want a pony.” Liam scrubs his hands over his face. “Okay. How has he been getting by? And how old is he?”

“He’s not been getting by very well. He tries to endure the drops. He masks well, uses lots of denial. God only knows what his coping mechanisms are, but they can’t be good. He’s twenty-four. Come see him. He’s sleeping at the moment. You’ll need to be calm. He’ll sense a Dominant’s distress and it’s triggering for him.”

“Wait. So he’s purely submissive, he has trauma, and he can’t even out with drugs. But he will have a negative reaction if he’s around an unsettled Dominant? He should seek out an unsettled Dominant like a moth to a flame.”

“As mentioned, a complicated case.”

“What about his fetishes?” It sounds like a nightmare. The poor bastard.