You and your wife have always had a strange psychic connection, ever since you met all those years ago. Dating only made it grow in strength; You could tell she’d had a bad day at work hours before she got home and collapsed onto the couch, she would start cooking your favourite comfort food without a word about something upsetting you leaving your lips.

It was never mind reading, you could feel each other's emotions and sometimes get hints of specific things, but you could never know exact thoughts. You were thankful for it though. It made you both closer than you ever thought possible. The two of you were perfect for each other, and nothing could ever drag you apart.

Or so you thought.

It was getting close to 7pm and you’d not heard, or felt, a single thing from her. You hadn’t worried about it during the day, simply assuming she was having a completely average work day with nothing good or bad going on. But nearly an hour after she finished work and still nothing? It just didn’t feel right. She only worked a half hour walk from your apartment. 

You were just about to walk out of the door and go looking for her when your phone buzzed. It was a voice message from her.

‘Hey babe, it’s Laura! Sorry for the silence. Work got real busy and I got held back to help out. I’ll be home in the next hour. Sorry again, love you!’

Well, you thought, at least she was safe. You continued about your night as normal, if a bit nervously, and started cooking dinner for the both of you. Sure enough, in the next hour, you could feel her again. It was scary having her go quiet out of nowhere, but your worries washed away as soon as she came through the door. You didn’t even feel able to explain what had happened to you, you just needed to be around her.

The next day you awoke feeling refreshed. It was the weekend and Laura was in the kitchen cooking up waffles and bacon. You’d dreamt about eating exactly that, maybe she’d felt it during the night. She was humming to herself while she dished it out. You felt like all of last night's worries were nothing at all. You could even feel the connection again. Laura asked if you’d like to go on a night out. It had been a long while since the two of you had been out for a nice meal, and you were more than happy to have some proper romantic time together.

It was wonderful. You talked with her for hours, laughing together for hours even after the food was finished. Once you got home you had the most intense sex you’d had in months. The two of you barely spoke a word during it, everything you wanted she knew before words could form. You passed out that night in each other's arms, it was heaven. The next day you kept stopping and admiring the bite and scratch marks all over you in the mirror, unable to stop yourself from grinning whenever you did.

You felt like the emotional high of that weekend would last forever, but you quickly found yourself getting stressed. Laura was being held back at work again tonight. You didn’t worry as much as last time, in fact, you could feel her emotions stronger than ever. There was just something off about them. You’d known Laura to get focused on her work before, but this was way different. There were these long stretches of calmness followed by short spikes of, joy? Satisfaction? Pleasure? You weren’t sure. Whatever it was it seemed to have an effect on you, you were getting all of the usual chores done with none of the distractions.

You didn’t even hear Laura come in, you were so engrossed.

“Wow hon, you really locked in tonight, huh? I was gonna sort out a bunch of the mess once I got back but you’ve done everything. You’re amazing.”

You told her you weren’t sure what got into you, you just kept going. It did feel good to look at everything being so neat and organised, you thought. Maybe this could become a weekly thing?

The next night was much the same. It barely registered to you that Laura was at work late, you’d finally managed to sit down and get writing the story you’d had planned for a while. Once more you felt it. The extended periods of calm followed by jolts of pleasure. You weren’t sure at first, but it was definitely pleasure she was feeling.  You felt it too, of course. By the time Laura was home you’d gotten around 7000 words down. It felt amazing, even if you had forgotten to get dinner started. Laura poked fun at you a little, the two of you deciding you’d earned a takeout meal.

The rest of the week proved just as organised. Whatever mood Laura was in at work was keeping you on top of things near constantly. One day you’d go to the gym for hours longer than you were usually motivated to. Calm. Pleasure. The next you’d get all the weekly shopping done with no slowing down. Calm. Pleasure. You organised all of the medication the two of you needed. Calm. Pleasure. Gym again. Calm. Pleasure. You’d never felt this productive in your life and you could stay like this forever. You’d even managed to start doing enough meal prep to have leftovers for a few days that Laura could take to work. She seemed so much happier too. Apparently she’d been picked out for a promotion, things were going so well it only seemed right to celebrate. You picked out a dumb movie while Laura went and picked up some drinks. 

Neither of you gave the movie much of your attention. Laura was talking about something she was interested in and you got so engrossed in listening. Maybe it was the alcohol doing it but you couldn’t focus on anything but her words. Eventually she turned to you and giggled, breaking the strange trance you’d fallen into with a long kiss. It felt like it lasted an eternity, her hands exploring your body, her tongue turning any sounds you made into muffled moans. 

You don’t know when you got to the bedroom, but you woke up feeling amazing. Laura must have carried you through at some point, she was sleeping peacefully next to you. 

The weekend passed quickly. Laura had to go into work for a final interview for her promotion, so you made the most of your alone time and headed to the gym. Even with her in an interview, you were feeling the odd emotions from Laura again. You focused on your warm ups and stretches. Calm. Pleasure. You jogged for a while. Calm. Pleasure. Lifted weights. Calm. Pleasure. Rowing machine. Calm. Pleasure. By the time you were out of the gym it was getting dark out, but you felt great for it. 

You got home before Laura did. Maybe they were showing her the ropes for the position. You lay down on the sofa for a while before making a start on food. You must have dozed off for a little bit because it was completely dark out now. Still no sign of Laura. You got up and showered, much needed after the gym.

Then you felt it.

It came from the same place in your mind as the shared emotions. A sound. Not words, just noise. It was quiet at first, but it didn’t stop. It was like a low pitched mechanical whine. If you didn’t know better you’d have brushed it off as a weird bout of tinnitus, but whatever it was felt like you were being pulled. Directed to go somewhere. To do something. 

You got dressed, trying not to freak out at this. You wished Laura was here, you needed her to be with you, she’d figure something out. Moving with instinct, you threw on a coat and headed out into the night. Nobody was around as you started the walk to Laura’s workplace. You knew the way, but it felt as if you didn’t need to. The compulsion drove you onwards in the right direction. 

You made the thirty minute walk in twenty, and walked right up to the door. It was unlocked, no security around. You didn’t care, you needed to keep going. The lights in the building flickered on as you entered, lighting up one of the long empty corridors. You followed them, the noise in your mind a siren song pushing you on to a goal you didn’t understand.

Winding hall after winding hall, your boots echoing in the silence, you marched on. Eventually, there at the end of this maze, stood by an elevator door, was Laura. Clad in a tight black catsuit, she watched you as you approached, her face the very picture of serenity. Calm. Pleasure. 

“You’re here. I’m so happy you’ve come.” Her voice was completely monotone.

You told her about the noise. You told her you couldn’t stay home. That you needed to come here and be with her.

“You did the right thing. Follow me.”

You did as you were told. Calm. Pleasure. You followed her into the elevator, and began your descent. The noise in your mind grew louder each second, but just being with Laura was enough to help keep you from focusing on it.

The door opened after what felt like an hour. Laura hadn’t said a word, but you kept following her all the same. You continued down more halls. This place was different to the office, pristine white floors and walls, cameras dotting the ceiling. You saw others here too, dressed the same as Laura but with masks with dark visors that obscured their faces. None of them paid attention to the two of you as you continued on, focusing on their tasks. The ringing in your head was so loud now and you felt dizzy.

Laura stopped at a door and entered a series of numbers on a keypad, leading you inside a dark room with a large chair in the middle. It was the kind of thing you’d see in a dentist's office, only with some sort of headset where the overhead mirror would be. Somehow you didn’t feel scared despite all of this. Being here with Laura felt comforting. It felt right.

“Lie down in the chair. Everything will be okay soon.” Despite the lack of emotion, it was as comforting to hear as anything she’d ever said.

You did as was asked of you. Calm. Pleasure. Laura lowered the headset over your eyes and placed a separate pair of headphones over your ears. You felt a small jolt as the headset was turned on. Purple and pink concentric rings pulsed in your vision. Slowly at first, increasing in speed and then slowing again. Words flickered in front of them. They were too fast for you to properly see, but in your mind the noise was changing, reforming into the words you couldn’t read.

Submit. Empty your mind. Serve. Let it be filled with commands. Comply. Let it be reformed. Submit. Obey The Administrator. Serve. Forget your name. Comply. Good drone. Submit. Accept designation Unit #3285. Serve. Unit #3285 will be partnered with Unit #3657. Comply.

Your mouth moved on its own, mumbling in agreement with the voice. It didn’t matter how long you were lying in the chair. You had no need to measure time unless commanded to. When the headset finally lifted, everything was silent in your mind. The noise had stopped, the space where it had once been now a void waiting to be filled with a command. Calm.

L̶a̶u̶r̶a̶Unit #3657 was standing where it had been, now masked and holding y̶o̶u̶r̶Unit #3285’s uniform.

Unit #3285 will prepare itself for service. The same voice from the headset spoke from the void in y̶o̶u̶r̶Unit #3285’s mind. Without exchanging any words, ̶y̶o̶u̶Unit #3285 took the uniform and began changing into it. As soon as it was on, a jolt ran through its body. Pleasure.

Unit #3285 and Unit #3657 will report to The Administrators office for further programming.

̶Y̶o̶u̶Unit #3285 and L̶a̶u̶r̶a̶Unit #3657 left the room, marching in perfect lockstep. Calm.

Everything was as it should be. Pleasure.