The college gym was eerily quiet. The team's new trainer had been pushing them incredibly hard this season, with extra practices at odd hours, extensive weight training, odd custom diets, and other weirdness. The team managers had become almost creepily devoted to the trainer, defending him against the gripes and dissent within the team and hanging out with him after hours. But by this point in the season, only few team members backed him.

In fact, the team captain had been working on a public letter calling on the trainer to be fired, and almost all of the team was ready to sign it. And scheduling a mandatory fitness session at the gym at 4 a.m. on the weekend seemed guaranteed to turn the last holdouts against the trainer. As the team members arrived and were handed their required fitness drink, they silently looked around the room at their teammates: by their glares at the trainer and furtive glances at each other it was clear that they were all united against the trainer. After this training, they would send the fateful letter.

Or so they thought...before their thoughts crawled to a halt. And were then improved.

Two hours later, a strongly-worded letter was sent... but it was a very different letter in tone and substance. Every member of the team now supported The Trainer and urged the college to promote him so that other teams on campus could also benefit from his amazing guidance. As their newly-implanted parasites continued to shape and improve their thoughts, the docile athletes all looked at their teammates and could clearly see their love and devotion for The Trainer... and their new parasitic masters.