e for the Baron's requirements To produce a "twisted ' mentat the Tleilaxu 185 enhanced and fostered inclinations to evil m their candidates, then systematically destroyed any vestiges of human emotions or responses except those required by the employer Although most of the Tleilaxu methods of twist conditioning are lost or obscure, one is certain the systematic destruction of faith or confidence in authorities, m loved ones, or in persons in traditional positions of trust by allowing the subject to witness Face Dancer counterfeits of such individuals committing atrocities Thus, Piter was subjected to horror upon horror, including the appalling simulation of his "mother ' being raped by a trusted mentor After the proper period of training, Piter was delivered to the Baron Harkonnen By the time he entered the Baron's employ, he was, to the Baron's thinking, the "perfect" Mentat-unfeeling, unscrupulous, addicted to melange, incapable of affection for his fellow creatures, his only possible emotion was a morbid delight in erotic depravity and in inflicting pain or death He was a creature to whom killing was as natural as swallowing and done with as little thought If in the accepted view, Thufk Hawat was indeed the mint-perfect Mentat, Piter de Vnes was the other side of the coin The Harkonnen papers point out tot when Piter joined the Baron on Ciedi Prime in 10168 he was a small, slender man with dark, effeminate features Eventually, by the time of his Ml maturity, Piter had not reached the average height expected for males m his society Some have conjectured that Piter's slight build aad meager height may account to some extent for his inordinate desire for power Orders aad sales receipts found in his papers indicate that he favored wearing the cothurn (a high, thick-soled boot) which suggests that be was not reconciled to his size During his years as Baron Harkonnen's Mentat-Assassin, Piter served his master well He machinated the destruction of a number of Minor Houses and the weakening of many more He outlined the oppressive policy the Baron implemented on Arrakis to squeeze out spice profits He seldom made mistakes In fact, the only recorded one is his prediction mat the Lady Jessica would bear her Duke a daughter, which she would have if she had not disobeyed Bene Gessent orders As time went on, Piter worked profitably in two areas in which he excelled the ere ation of methods of torture and the development of poisons His products ranged from the most subtle, undetectable poisons to those causing lingering death in excruciating pain One notable compound was a sophisticated residual poison (later used on Thufir Hawat) for which periodic antidotes had to be administered The control comes of course, with the threat of withdrawal ot the antidote, which brought death within hours, or at the most within a few days In return for his efforts, the Baron fed Piter's craving for power by promises of future spoils and fed his ad