Maggie was not a happy hero. Not right now, at least. She’d warned that green twink that, should he keep up his weird company’s whole evil schtick she’d take drastic measures, so here she was now, in front of that damn eyesore of a skyscraper, her steel gaze looking upwards. He was on the final floor, she knew that. And she’d get to him…

Determined, she strode through the automatic doors. It was around twelve, what Maggie assumed would be the employees’ lunch break, yet no one seemed to really exit the building…

The lobby she entered was busy with EmsCo staff, dressed sharply in their uniforms, their jackets cut precisely, a pager sticking out of its pockets, green button ups beneath, although… much of the staff did seem to leave a few of their upper ones… undone. The uniforms seemed, regardless of gender, to come in a few variations, mainly as to whether the employee wore a skirt and tights or long business pants. Were she paying attention, Maggie might have noticed most of the people walking about were those wearing pants. Strangest of all, each employee seemed to wear some variation of glasses that covered the whole of their eyes, some more visor-like, others shade-like. In the background, corporate music played, bland and uninspired.

But Maggie decided not to pay it too much mind, even if the uniforms might’ve made her raise an eyebrow, in other circumstances. She was here for more important things, after all. Did Emils really think he could get away with these damn weekly robot attacks?

Walking up to the receptionist’s desk, Maggie slammed a hand onto it, leaning in with what she figured was an appropriately intimidating expression. “Look here, I don’t want to cause more trouble than I need to, but I’ve got to go talk with your boss right now.”

The receptionist barely reacted at the slam, her wide smile unchanging as she looked up to Maggie, beaming. Her blouse was even more unbuttonned than some of the others’, giving a plunging view of her cleavage, a pearl necklace hanging from her neck, which Maggie noted, then quickly decided to look away from.

“Oh! Of course Miss, let me see how the schedule is looking! Please wait a moment.”

That being said, she quickly got to work, typing away into her computer, Maggie standing by, tapping her foot. She didn’t exactly want to punch her way through non hostile workers, so she was somewhat hoping to skip over it all.

The music kept going all the while, Maggie’s fingers tapping on the desk, as her mind, unstimulated, shifted its attention to the tune. There really wasn’t much to it, it was one calm enough to work as background, while avoiding being too repetitive, likely to avoid driving a listener mad.

Somehow, Maggie felt just a bit more inclined to wait for the receptionist, even if the latter really seemed to be taking her time, tapping and typing at surprising speeds, her smile lessened somewhat, her expression now focused entirely on the task at hand.

Maggie stayed vigilant, keeping an eye around, in case any security had been called but… there was no trace of anyone, outside the regular workers. At some point, the woman’s pager rang out, a beep followed by some garbled voices, which she paused to listen to. Maggie did not make out what was said.

The receptionist smiled at Maggie again, standing up “Seems like you’ll be able to have a meeting, actually! I’ll guide you, so please follow me, Miss.”

As the receptionist said that, a replacement came in, a boy dressed in the exact same uniform as her, who quickly took the seat she once occupied.

Without waiting a moment, Maggie’s guide started walking, with precise, neat steps, a click-click-click heard every time her heels hit the ground, constant, never stumbling, despite how precarious and unpractical the stilettos seemed to be.

Hurrying behind, Maggie moved away from the counter, her eyes slipping idly along the body of the woman in front of her, for some reason, she felt more comfortable than usual doing so, though why such was the case, she could not say.

The receptionist talked as they walked “We are very happy to welcome you here, we are certain you will have all desired answers by the time we are done with you!” Her voice was a bit too enthusiastic. Maggie hated that fake tone that customer service always took…

Still, the receptionist hadn’t done anything to aggravate her, so she played along, discussing idly “...sure, just make sure you don’t try to pull anything or I’ll get real mad. And ya don’t want me mad, you get me?”

The receptionist only giggled in response, before formulating an answer “Do not worry, EmsCo’s efficient service ensures that no client of ours remains angry long!”

Maggie figured she’d get nothing out of a conversation with that woman other than bland corporate slogans. How much was she paid to go through all that circus, jeeze?... By far, though, the slight green hue the lights gave to everything was the most puzzling.

The halls were all decorated with EmsCo-branding, from the “Stay Efficient” posters, or the water coolers, or the lights…

Maggie almost wondered how Emils had any money left after spending it on all this stuff to even build robots with… Still, she followed her guide, stepping into the elevator with her. She remained on guard, just in case. But… nothing happened, beyond her losing track of time in the elevator. The music did make it seem to go by faster…

She was called back to attention by the receptionist, and, after a minute more of walking, was ushered into a meeting room, the receptionist standing by her as she was guided to sit down, facing the presentation projector.

Offering Maggie a glass of water, the receptionist kept talking, her smile remaining, wide as ever as she spoke.

“Please wait here, our CEO will soon arrive for your meeting, as you asked. In the meanwhile, I would be delighted to give you what you need to properly understand the role EmsCo plays in all our lives!”

Maggie sipped on the drink, she’d normally be more worried, but there was something about how… efficient that whole thing had been.

She huhed out loud. Why did she use that word? She supposed that it was plastered all over the place, would make sense to take it in just a tiny bit…

Her eyes, now used to the green hue permeating everything, failed to notice the water’s unnatural color as she drunk it down, her guard was… dulled. For some reason, there was something of comforting about just having to nod along…

The receptionist, noting the nodding, went ahead and turned on the projector. There, some more base corporations might have decided to put a spiral, but not EmsCo. EmsCo did things right, efficient. In front of Maggie, the presentation looked perfectly normal, professional.

The receptionist spoke, at a constant, even pace, a hand resting by Maggie’s head on her chair. “As you can see, at EmsCo, we are involved in multiple industrial Projects, as a way to Further Humanity and all that falls within its purview.”

Maggie wanted to snark about the robots, but figured she’d save it for Emils…

“EmsCo believes efficiency is key. As through efficiency do things go smooth, easy, without any difficulty. An efficient worker is a good worker, and so, efficiency is good, yes?”

Maggie took a sip of her water, taking a moment to think on the question. The logic did seem to track?... “Yes. I guess?”

The Receptionist giggled “Of course! It is a very good, efficient guess. A good worker is an efficient worker.”

The slide changed, showing graphs Maggie barely comprehended, as the Receptionist kept going “As studies show, our efficiency program has increased worker enjoyment by over three hundred percents, and conversely led to an increase in productivity from this initiative.”

Maggie nodded, wasn’t she here to do something else though? Right, the meeting… But it’d be rude to interrupt…

After a while longer of corporate speech describing the virtues of EmsCo’s Efficiency doctrine, Emils’ involvement in the matter and the perks it brought, the receptionist paused, asking.

“Are you perhaps curious about the initiative?”

Maggie’s mind was swimming, the endless flow of words from the receptionist sticking to her brain strangely, her drink refilled whenever she wasn’t looking, her mind dripping, dripping away… Her body growing ever comfier in that office chair.

“Here at EmsCo, we wish for an Efficient Service to all those that are Loyal to our brand, as we aim to Project a Better Future.”

It was hard to tell exactly what was being said, all the words melting into one another, Maggie’s mind managing to pick up on a few repetitive terms and phrases. “Efficient.” “Service.” “Loyal.” “Project.” “Better.”

The receptionist kept going, though what she said was… not unimportant, but difficult to properly listen to, with how much corporate speak buried and obscured the actual meaning of her sentences, endless talk of synergies and strategic acquisitions going on and on…

Though, deep in Maggie’s mind, under the layers of her confused conscious, her brain parsed the words that dripped in, slowly but surely. She was… a strategic acquisition? An asset?...

The heroine tried to interrupt the receptionist, but her mouth failed her, going slack as she tried to open it, drooling slightly as her body slumped, unable to will herself to close it, to fight gravity, as her eyes fluttered a bit, staring helplessly at the words and slides.

“Ah, I see the relaxants have taken effect! Mister Ohncet specifically asked for a triple dose for you, I am glad to see he was right as always!”

The secretary’s tone hadn’t changed, she spoke those words with the same fake-seeming enthusiasm that had coloured all of her speech before. If Maggie had been able to in that moment, she’d have found it ominous.

Still, she tried to prop herself up, her arms twitching a bit as the secretary blinked. “Oh, yes, of course, I almost forgot to give them to you!”

Before Maggie even had the time to consider wondering about what she had meant, a pair of glasses just like the other employees’ had been secured on her face, turning on with such a pretty chime.

Despite the certainty she now had of EmsCo’s villainous nature, Maggie just couldn’t muster her strength at the moment, her eyes glazing over somewhat as the visor hummed to life, her sight filling with a barely perceptible overlay of green pulses, added on top of the screen itself.

The bland songs that the visor’s earpieces emitted did not help her resist either, her trapped, relaxed mind eagerly taking in the easy-to-understand and predict beats. The blandness, if anything, lent itself to the desired effect.

Maggie tried to move again, and managed to lift her hand up a centimeter, though whether it surprised the receptionist or not was hard to say.

All that was certain was that, as she spoke more, as her words and the screens’ worked their way into Maggie’s mind, all three converged on a single thing, a single facet.

“Sleep.”

As the three, in sync, reached that imperative point, her exhausted body and mind had no choice but to comply, her consciousness swallowed by green-tinted darkness.

The secretary, satisfied, took a step back, pressing on the intercom button next to the door, speaking clearly and concisely after a dinging noise was heard.

“Mister Emils, sir? We have gotten our new acquisition, as you have requested.”

A simple answer returned. “Understood. Will arrive presently.”

It only took a few minutes before a hidden panel in the wall opened itself, the green-skinned boy stepping through, dressed in, for once, a suit and tie, rather than the peculiar villainous fashion he usually wore.

His red pupils, set in the dark sclera of his eyes, peered at the limp, be-visored heroine, his expression an emotionless neutrality, the secretary’s greeting going unanswered as Emils took out a machine, connecting it to the visor, analytical charts appearing on the screen before him.

“Mh. Readings are sub-optimal. Did you dispense the correct subliminals and chemicals?”

The secretary nodded, her smile stuck on her face “Of course, mister CEO sir! All within the 0.1% margin I was ordered to!”

Emils thought a moment, looking at Maggie, his face unreadable.

“We’re setting her with security level five. Please ensure she gets Unconscious Training, acquires a uniform, an Attitude Adjuster and a Pager. We will put her to work within the next two days.”

The secretary blinked “...Will two days be long enough to calibrate the At-” her speech pausing as her own necklace lit itself, coming to life with a hum. “Of course Mister CEO! We will make sure to get her to be efficient as soon as possible! We’ll make it a day!”

Emils nodded, once. “Good. Efficient. I would take care of it myself, but there is a meeting I must attend for the Project. Do not disappoint me.”

The Secretary nodded, her posture perfect, waiting until Emils was out of sight, before turning to Maggie. “...now to take care of you.”

Maggie remained unconscious a long time, or at least unallowed to think, as her body, almost sleepwalking, was guided to the more hidden parts of the financial headquarters of the company, into labs that some might even call ominous.

The secretary dutifully set to ordering the new hire to strip down, as she prepared some of the machines before her, her hands moving with trained and programmed precision over the different dials.

Gently pushing the underwear-clad heroine in, the secretary hummed EmsCo’s jingle as she set about the process… just like always.

Scanning the body, spraying on the slime that’d form the uniform… Adjusting values to reach EmsCo’s official Efficient Exposure… Making sure to test and train the beep frequencies of the pager (though the secretary was pleasantly surprised to find that Maggie was especially responsive to those, standing straight at attention after only two iterations of it)...

What came after that, again…? With a helpful flash and beep, she recovered her composure, her smile wide and her mind certain. Of course! Then you had to ensure that the Attitude Adjuster was set!

Mechanislime arms moved to affix the pearl necklace-looking device to the girl’s neck, taking the time to let it flicker through different signals, quickly testing them. From the way Maggie was left twitching in near-catalepsy, the results were promising.

Then came the final touches. The secretary consulted the guide, quickly, before looking back at Maggie, letting the uniform now solidify… only for it to ignore the girl’s midsection.

The secretary frowned, confused, trying to let the uniform set again, over and over, but no matter what, it seemed as though it kept getting cut off at the precise point where it’d start hiding the girl’s stomach…

More confusing still was how the uniform seemingly went back to its correct length when taken off of the girl…

Unable to properly take care of the issue, the secretary just smiled and ignored it, moving onto the final minor touches.

First and most obvious was how unprofessional the hair of the girl was, much more fit for some punk than the high quality worker she was set to be.

Pressing a few buttons let the arms return, rubbing the girl’s scalp in gentle circles as they oozed out a fluid, the EmsCo Brand hair stimulator (Emils called it the ‘Keratin Encouraging Slime Type 54-F’, but it was deemed not consumer-friendly).

Slowly, Maggie’s hair grew out, evenly, silky smooth, cascading down her back and shoulders in waves. Once its length was deemed enough, it was gathered and bundled nice and secured, forming a bun, much more appropriate for an efficient worker.

Of course, though, the receptionist’s work was not done…

…

…Maggie woke up at her reception desk with a blink, her back straight, confused as she looked around. Wasn’t she just in a meeting room where she?...

She was interrupted as a client stepped up to the desk, she swore she could see a flicker in her vision as she attended the client.

“Oh, hello, welcome to EmsCo! How may I help you?”

As the client explained what they were here for, Maggie almost wanted to say she wasn’t sure how to help but it somehow was so… natural to know all those things, who to call, how to move to keep being a good receptionist…

Once he was gone, Maggie had time to think again. She was a…receptionist?... No, she was a receptionist. A-

Again, she was interrupted, a new client coming by, her smile locking in that wide, welcoming corporate style, the receptionist happy to help and look good doing it.

Then the client left again, and Maggie frowned. She wasn’t a damn receptionist ! Even if it seemed like a perfectly efficient job! She was a hero! And she’d come there to…

Her memory flooded back to her, even the layer of conditioning and slime unable to stop it, though for some reason, she couldn’t quite muster the anger to get up, reasoning that it’d be suspicious… until the next client approached. Knowing she had to ask for help, she stood up with a start, smacking her hands on the desk.

“Ah, you! you have to-” her necklace shone slightly, a hum travelling through her spine “-know how efficient this workplace is!”

The client blinked, confused. Maggie frowned, had she said something weird? She was even smiling to show how happy to greet them she was!

To make things more clear, she continued.

“They're-” the necklace’s humming tickled her neck, her brain… “-working hard on all their Projects!”

The client nodded, a bit uneasy, but entertained enough at the enthusiasm she showed.

“Please allow me to show you how welcoming EmsCo is!”

After that whole declaration, the client simply… acted normally, making some friendly, professional small talk, as though nothing had happened. Only after a moment did it strike Maggie what exactly she’d just said, but before she could think of fighting whatever was influencing her, the client asked for directions. Naturally,  she sat down again, ready to help the them.

Once it was done, she remained there, smiling wide despite the confusion that was setting in, although her outburst hadn’t passed unnoticed…

Her pager beeped to life suddenly, as her worries disappeared, replaced by efficient attention. Her mind and thoughts were obstacle to listening to the instructions of the CEO, after all.

“Employee Maggie Garcia, please report to the CEO’s office now.”

In a daze, her eyes unfocused, she nodded to no one in particular, standing up, walking away from her desk to fulfil her order, now the only thing on her mind, the only goal she could fathom, the beep still echoing within.

There’d need to be some adjustments made, but, Emils thought as he watched her automatic, mindless walk to the elevator, she’d be a model employee soon enough, after a few additional layers of conditioning.

At least until the next episode started.