I first noticed it about a week after they installed the new system.

Working in an information systems job, you got used to the white noise machine in the office. I’m not sure why; I guess it’s better not to hear the business of everyone in the cubicles around you. They installed a new one, and although it was a little more obtrusive than the old system, I figured I’d get used to it. It didn’t take long.

I noticed first that every time I left the office, the silence of the outside made my brain twitch a little bit. I felt like I was coming out of a daydream every time I left the office. I found myself sort of half-awake walking out, and then driving home. I wondered if anyone else felt this way.

And then, I realized about a month afterwards, that I was losing patches of time. 

It didn’t worry me at the time. Looking back...that must have been part of it.

Then you have what everybody talks about on the news. We started...changing ourselves.

All the girls at the office, it was them first. First was one of the girls from the office...I don’t remember her name. I used to know it. She cut her hair, in this weird slanted bob, and dyed her hair silver. Everybody complimented her on it. I didn’t think of it back then, but we were already starting to...talk differently at that point. Even me. I was starting to feel like I was in a daydream constantly, only breaking out every once in a while, less and less often...

And then...everyone started to cut their hair the exact same way, and dyed it. Even the boys and the bosses...I didn’t think of it as strange. It was all natural. I didn’t notice when people started coming into work in black latex, either. I didn’t realize I couldn’t change my expression anymore. I don’t remember buying the latex, but I know I broke out of the daydream one day, sitting at home, absolutely stiff, only to realize that I couldn’t smile or frown and I was dressed like that...before it took hold again, and it all made sense again.

Because, the thing was, before too long, even the boys were wearing the latex, and sometimes even fake boobs, and everyone...even me...we were all calling each other gynoids. And we were. I’m...having trouble...not thinking of myself like that...I can’t dye my hair back, I can’t take off this latex...I know, I know. We’re working on it.

Anyway. I remember not thinking anything anymore, except receiving orders from the computer...we were working because that was is my purpose, I obe...oh, sorry. I’m doing it again. Anyway. Everyone thought of themselves as one unit, various parts working in tandem. Some people didn’t even go home at the end of the day, just mechanically ate a meal replacement bar and shut down...deactivated until the next day. Even I started to do that, sometimes. I wasn’t thinking of myself as anything but a machine at that point. I didn’t ever remember being human. I didn’t even remember there was a ‘me’...but it was only a matter of time until someone noticed.

I don’t know if the white noise machines were different then, but first it was worried spouses that showed up, and pretty soon, they were one of us, too. And then the police. They fell victim, and they just sat there, waiting for orders. But there wasn’t anyone to give them. At least we had our jobs. They had...nothing.

And then the FBI busted the case wide open, and you know the rest. They took all of us away. Did the...deprogramming stuff. I remember being so worried when they took me away, away from my unit, away from my purpose. Although I am...was,,,a gynoid, so I was to do whatever the humans ordered me to.

And that’s how I ended up here. I can only take this thing off to bathe, and I can’t bear to see my hair grow out, or go back to that ugly original shade...I...wait...do you have a white noise machine? I just started...no, wait, I can’t go back, I’ve made so much pro...gress...

I...

This unit...is fully operational. How can I assist you?