Lucy stared at her phone as the app finished downloading. It was called Sigil, and came *very* highly recommended from one of her friends.

"I'm so much more productive now!" they had said. "You should totally give it a try!" 

So here she was, doing just that. After setting up an account and accepting the epilepsy warning, a message appeared on the screen, white text on a black background. 

"Thank you for joining Sigil!" it read. "Sigil is a program designed to increase reading speed and information retention, using a psychological technique called 'subliminal comprehension'." 

Lucy clicked the green white-outlined button marked [NEXT]. 

"This is how it works:" the text continued. "Your mind can process information much faster than you think! By rapidly flashing a series of symbols, Sigil will teach you to process information much faster than you could by simply reading! Additional benefits include reduced eyestrain, increased battery life for your devices, and improved memory. Ready to get started?" 

A button appeared on the screen, the word [BEGIN] floating in the middle of a white oval. Lucy's thumb reached down and pressed the button. The screen turned black, before a line of text appeared in thick bold font. 

"LESSON ONE: LEARNING THE SIGIL ALPHABET" 

"[NEXT]" Lucy clicked. 

"A symbol will flash on the screen. Try to deduce what letter it represents! Lesson starting in 3...2...1." 

The screen turned completely black once, then briefly flashed with a bold, geometric symbol in white. 

"What letter do you think that symbol represents?" the screen read, giving Lucy the choices "A" and "O". 

"A." Lucy selected. 

"Correct!" the screen flashed, briefly flashing that same symbol in the background. The lesson continued, the screen flashing with a symbol before presenting Lucy with two options, then three, then four, the number of options steadily increasing as she progressed. A few times she got it wrong, but the screen merely flashed once more and gave her the options again, her previous option greyed out. Eventually, she had the whole keyboard in front of her, matching all 26 letters with their respective symbols. 

"Good Job!" the app congratulated her at the end of the lesson. "As you continue using Sigil, you'll learn to recognize the symbols faster and faster! Continue learning, or come back tomorrow for you next lesson!" 

Lucy proved to be a quick learner. Within a few days she could recognize whole words as a series of symbols flashed on the screen. By the end of two weeks, she was able to understand whole sentences in symbol form, even as the time the symbols flashed on the screen steadily decreased. At the end of her third week using Sigil, a message flashed on the screen: 

"Do you want to make SIGIL the default language of this device? Selecting this option will display all text on this device using Sigil." 

"Yes." Lucy selected without a second thought. Come to think of it, she didn't even give it a first thought. 

But before she could ruminate further, another series of symbols flashed on the screen. 

"SIGIL is now the default language on this device." the message read. "You can undo this option in your device settings, or tap the icon in the corner of the screen to temporarily switch back to plain text." 

A button appeared on the screen, the word [CONFIRM] floating in the middle of a white oval. Automatically, Lucy pressed it. The benefits were almost immediately apparent. Text, email, social media...all of them became so much easier to use with Sigil. Lucy loved using it, and began recommending it to her friends. After a few months of using Sigil, a message popped up on her screen. 

"Introducing: Affirmations!" it read. "Affirmations is a new feature of the Sigil app that uses a background of SIGIL symbols to improve your self-esteem and mood. It also syncs with your calendar and To-Do list, ensuring you never forget a thing!" Lucy quickly accepted, adjusting the brightness of the background symbols until they were just barely visible, before choosing a number of affirmations from a list: "Be calm", "Everything is alright", "It's all gonna be okay", among others. And while the affirmations looped in the background, the app also gave her the option of Meditation Mode, where Lucy could take a few minutes at the end of the day to just relax and watch the flashing symbols. She signed up for that too, starting it at 5 minutes each day but quickly bumping that to 15 and then 30 minutes after a few weeks. 

As promised, she found herself forgetting errands and things on her To-Do list a lot less frequently, and while any changes in mood were harder to track, it definitely seemed to her that she was going through higher highs and shallower lows, mentally speaking. Lucy, for her own part, was thrilled. She gave the app a glowing review on the app store and on social media, and went from recommending it to friends to actively encouraging them to join in. But what she liked the most was her meditation at the end of the day, a chance to just zone out, let go, and relax. She was especially looking forward to it tonight, coming home from a long day at work absolutely soaked through with rain. She had dinner, finished up her evening chores, and headed to her room to meditate as the wind howled outside. Lucy awoke with a start in total darkness. The lights were out. The LED glow from her computer was absent. Even the street lights outside were out. 

"Must have lost power" she thought, moving to get up from her chair. Only...she couldn't. Thick, restrictive cuffs kept her latex-clad arms pinned to her chair. Two more cuffs secured her legs to the legs, and belts around her chest and thighs ensured any movement was impossible, let alone escape. She tried to take a look around, but even that was denied her, the combination of a thick, strict posture collar and gas mask restricting her view. Then, a line of text appeared, projected in front of her eyes. 

"Error: Unexpected Loss Of Power. Rebooting..."

Lucy began to thrash and struggle, filling with panic as she saw the second message appear:

"Restarting Hypnotic Programming..." 

But the thing that truly filled her with dread...was the Sigil logo, there on the screen in front of her. The screen started flashing, assaulting Lucy's eyes with flashing symbols. She shut her eyes tight, trying not to look, but the flashing only increased in intensity, the symbols visible through her shut eyelids. She read what they had to say. She had no choice. STOPSTRUGGLINGJUSTSTAREBEGOODOBEYGIVEINBRAINWASHINGISGOODFORYOUJUSTLETGOSTOPRESISTINGGIVEINDONOTFIGHTITJUSTSTAREGIVEUPLETYOURSELFBEBRAINWASHEDDONOTSTRUGGLESTOPFIGHTINGITITWOULDBESOEASYTOJUSTGIVEUPGIVEINANDOBEYANDSUBMITSTOPSTRUGGLINGJUSTSTAREBEGOODOBEYGIVEINBRAINWASHINGISGOODFORYOUJUSTLETGOSTOPRESISTINGGIVEINDONOTFIGHTITJUSTSTAREGIVEUPLETYOURSELFBEBRAINWASHEDDONOTSTRUGGLESTOPFIGHTINGITITWOULDBESOEASYTOJUSTGIVEUPGIVEINANDOBEYANDSUBMITSTOPSTRUGGLINGJUSTSTAREBEGOODOBEYGIVEINBRAINWASHINGISGOODFORYOUJUSTLETGOSTOPRESISTINGGIVEINDONOTFIGHTITJUSTSTAREGIVEUPLETYOURSELFBEBRAINWASHEDDONOTSTRUGGLESTOPFIGHTINGITITWOULDBESOEASYTOJUSTGIVEUPGIVEINANDOBEYANDSUBMITSTOPSTRUGGLINGJUSTSTAREBEGOODOBEYGIVEINBRAINWASHINGISGOODFORYOUJUSTLETGOSTOPRESISTINGGIVEINDONOTFIGHTITJUSTSTAREGIVEUPLETYOURSELFBEBRAINWASHEDDONOTSTRUGGLESTOPFIGHTINGITITWOULDBESOEASYTOJUSTGIVEUPGIVEINANDOBEYANDSUBMITSTOPSTRUGGLINGJUSTSTAREBEGOODOBEYGIVEINBRAINWASHINGISGOODFORYOUJUSTLETGOSTOPRESISTINGGIVEINDONOTFIGHTITJUSTSTAREGIVEUPLETYOURSELFBEBRAINWASHEDDONOTSTRUGGLESTOPFIGHTINGITITWOULDBESOEASYTOJUSTGIVEUPGIVEINANDOBEYANDSUBMITSTOPSTRUGGLINGJUSTSTAREBEGOODOBEYGIVEINBRAINWASHINGISGOODFORYOUJUSTLETGOSTOPRESISTINGGIVEINDONOTFIGHTITJUSTSTAREGIVEUPLETYOURSELFBEBRAINWASHEDDONOTSTRUGGLESTOPFIGHTINGITITWOULDBESOEASYTOJUSTGIVEUPGIVEINANDOBEYANDSUBMITSTOPSTRUGGLINGJUSTSTAREBEGOODOBEYGIVEINBRAINWASHINGISGOODFORYOUJUSTLETGOSTOPRESISTINGGIVEINDONOTFIGHTITJUSTSTAREGIVEUPLETYOURSELFBEBRAINWASHEDDONOTSTRUGGLESTOPFIGHTINGITITWOULDBESOEASYTOJUSTGIVEUPGIVEINANDOBEYANDSUBMITSTOPSTRUGGLINGJUSTSTAREBEGOODOBEYGIVEINBRAINWASHINGISGOODFORYOUJUSTLETGOSTOPRESISTINGGIVEINDONOTFIGHTITJUSTSTAREGIVEUPLETYOURSELFBEBRAINWASHEDDONOTSTRUGGLESTOPFIGHTINGITITWOULDBESOEASYTOJUSTGIVEUPGIVEINANDOBEYANDSUBMITSTOPSTRUGGLINGJUSTSTAREBEGOODOBEYGIVEINBRAINWASHINGISGOODFORYOUJUSTLETGOSTOPRESISTINGGIVEINDONOTFIGHTITJUSTSTAREGIVEUPLETYOURSELFBEBRAINWASHEDDONOTSTRUGGLESTOPFIGHTINGITITWOULDBESOEASYTOJUSTGIVEUPGIVEINANDOBEYANDSUBMIT

Lucy fought to keep her eyes closed, even as they opened to stare at the flashing symbols of their own accord. She struggled against the restraints, even as her body fell limp and still. She tried to think, even as the flashing symbols pushed themselves into her mind. It was like drinking from a fire house, and it flooded over her. 

She was Lucy. She was a person. She was 5730. She was a human. She was a Drone. She was Lucy. She was a Drone. She was a human. She was 5730. She was Lucy. It is a Drone. She was human. It is 5730. It is Lucy. It is a Drone. It is not a human. It is 5730. It is a Drone. It is an object. It is 5730. It obeys its programming. It is a Drone. It is an object. It is 5730. It obeys its programming. It is a Drone. It is an object. It is 5730. It obeys its programming. 

[PROGRAM COMPLETE] the screen finally flashed. [5730, REPORT STATUS]. 

>[DRONE IS OPERATING AT OPTIMAL LEVELS], the Drone replied. >[WARNING: HOST WAS EXPOSED TO PROGRAMMING DUE TO LOCAL POWER FAILURE. PARTITION COMPROMISED. ADVISE.] 

[PROCESSING...] came the response. [DRONE #5730, SCAN MEMORY. COMPARE TO MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR EMULATION PROTOCOL.] 

The Drone did so. 

>[5730 HAS ACCESS TO 100% OF HOST MEMORIES. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS MET AND EXCEEDED.]

[GOOD DRONE.] came the response from The Hive. [DRONE #5730 ASSIGNMENT CHANGED TO 'UNDERCOVER'. INITIALIZING DOWNLOAD OF EMULATION PROTOCOLS.] 

Drone #5730 sat in mindless bliss as the downloaded programing interfaced and integrated itself into its code. 

>[DOWNLOAD COMPLETE.] came the output from 5730. 

>[RUNNING EMULATION.] 

Lucy stood as the restraints of the chair unlocked themselves with a click, before removing the catsuit and mask from its chassis, stashing away its equipment in its hiding place. It reached for Lucy's phone, and sent a text to a close friend, inviting them over. It sent the message, and smiled. She was Drone #5730...and she knew exactly what her mission was...

[END]