I was filled with jealousy. I had just been sent a video from DroneCorp. They had a policy where you could have a video of yourself be sent to people you know if you decided to volunteer for dronification. I saw the face of my best friend in thumbnail of the video. She had finally decided to volunteer. She would get to experience the bliss of becoming a drone before I would. I felt myself shaking as I moved my cursor to begin playing the video.
I remember the first time I heard about DroneCorp. It was a commercial that played before a youtube video. I donāt remember a single thing about that youtube video, but I will never forget that commercial. It showed a large group of drones mindlessly doing labor. Their shiny latex bodies and sleek gas masks were unlike anything I had ever seen before. A voiceover started talking about how these drones were once people who had given up their individuality and free will to become drones. I was initially disgusted, but I just couldnāt look away. Doing anything other than watching and listening to the ad felt impossible. It almost felt hypnotic.
I had watched many more ads for DroneCorp since then. Every ad had the same hypnotic quality. What started as disgust slowly turned into intrigue, and eventually desire. Every time I saw one of the ads, I couldnāt help but imagine what it would be like to be one of the drones. Another faceless obedient object. I had even gone as far as to research every detail of the dronification process, just so I could imagine it better. I had shared this interest with almost all of my friends. We had spent more hours than I could count trying to decide whether or not we should become drones. And now, my best friend was becoming a drone before me.
With a shaky hand, I finally pressed play. I saw my friend in the factory, with a few drones guiding her along. She was clearly excited, and she was also dressed quite nicely. It seemed that she wanted to look her best for her final day of having free will. But her nice clothes couldnāt hide her nervousness. She was looking all around the facility while fidgeting. The drones guided her to an undressing area, with a black box on the ground. A voice from a speaker instructed her to completely undress and place all her clothes in the box. She hurriedly tried to undress as quickly as possible, making every possible mistake one can make while undressing in the process. Soon, all the style and fake confidence her clothes had given her was stripped away. She tried to cover her chest and crotch with her arms and hands, but there was no point. She was completely naked and vulnerable.
The drones guided her to the beginning of the conveyor belt. Right in front of the conveyor belt, there was a metal frame there with attachment points for her wrist and ankles, in such a way that she would be spread out like a star. She knew that she was standing right in front of the point of no return. As soon as she got on that conveyor belt, her fate would be sealed. It was clear that she was hesitant, but the drones didnāt seem to care. They forced her onto the frame and quickly locked her arms and legs in place. The metal frame started moving, and I could see the realization that she was now going to become a drone setting in on her face. She looked tense and scared. She knew that at the other end of the conveyor belt was a life as a mindless drone. It was clear that she was second guessing her decision, but changing her mind wouldnāt change her fate. She was on the conveyor belt, and she was going to become a drone.
The conveyor belt took her inside a large machine with multiple large tanks around it. Her metal frame was picked up, and placed in a small chamber. She looked around nervously as the machine loudly hummed all around her. The machine started spraying a thick, black and shiny liquid on her. She let out a quick gasp of shock as the seemingly warm liquid hit her. The machine continued spraying it all across her body, until everything beneath the neck was covered in liquid latex. The machineās humming got less intense, as it slowly stopped spraying. It was almost entirely silent for a second, as pink lights turned on all around her. The pink lights seemed to make the liquid latex more solid, until it was completely dry. She looked down on her body and examined her new latex skin. She looked like she was naked in an entirely new way. She was now covered in the black, shiny latex skin of a drone.
The metal frame was picked up by the machine and placed back on the conveyor belt. The next stop on the conveyor belt was next to a mechanical arm that placed itself around her neck. There was a small yelp of pain from her, then the arm moved away, revealing a collar around her neck, with a metal ring in the front. She was moved forwards, before once again being stopped at a machine that placed itself around her stomach and back. She gasped for air as it attached herself, like it was getting harder to breathe. The machine removed itself, revealing a tight corset. Her expression indicated that it was quite uncomfortable, but the machines kept moving. The next step had two arms that grabbed her upper legs and knees, and the lower restraint on the metal frame were released. Another set of mechanical arms slid a pair of knee-high boots onto her and sealed them on before locking her feet back into the metal frameās restraints. The conveyor belt moved her along to another mechanical arm that placed itself over her crotch. The arm made a buzzing sound, and her expression seemed to indicate a combination of pleasure and pain. The arm moved away, revealing that on her crotch, written in pink latex, was now DroneCorpās logo, and a ten digit serial number.
The metal frame was grabbed and lifted up bu a massive machine. Behind her, I could see at least hundreds of other volunteers behind her in metal frames, with something dark over their heads. Her metal frame was moved into position among the other metal frames. Judging by her expression, it seemed like she was fully aware of what was about to happen to her. I could see her becoming increasingly panicked as a black helmet with a transparent pink visor was slowly lowered onto her head. I could see tears begin to come out of her eyes. She was regretting her choice. Suddenly, a bright flash appeared on the visor, and her panicked body instantly went limp. Her panicked face turned completely blank, as one last tears rolled down her cheeks. She stared at the visor with glazed eyes as it flashing. Slowly, a smile started spreading across her face. Her mind was being reprogrammed.
I knew that the reprogramming was the most pleasurable part of dronification. I knew that as I watched her let out mindless moans while her mind was being deleted. All her memories, her thoughts, her opinions, her beliefs, her likes, her dislikes and all her personality traits were being deleted. It was being replaced with drone code. All drones ran on the exact same code. I watched her face of mindless bliss as I thought about how she was forgetting everything about me, all while experiencing true bliss. The thought made my jealousy burn like hellfire, but I couldnāt look away. I watched her being reprogrammed for 6 hours. I watched as more and more of my best friendās mind got replaced with pure drone code. I watched as my best friend turned into an obedient object. I watched as she moaned in bliss while becoming a drone. Eventually, the moaning stopped. There was nothing left to erase. The helmet was lifted from her head, revealing a completely blank expression. She was no longer a āsheā. āSheā was an āitā. It was a drone. The metal frame was placed back on the conveyor belt, where it made one final stop. A gas mask covering its entire head and face was sealed onto it, hiding the last remnants of my best friend. It was a drone. Identical to all other drones. My best friend had become a drone.
The metal frame arrived at the end of the conveyor belt. The restraints on its arms and legs were released, and it stepped onto the floor. It stood straight up with a robotic posture. After a quick second of standing still, it started walking towards a warehouse. Its walk was robotic and stiff, and devoid of personality. It walked into a warehouse that seemed to have hundreds, if not thousands of drones. They were all standing in perfect formation. It stepped into the formation, looking completely identical to all the other drones. The camera zoomed out, and it was hard to keep track of which of the drones were once my best friend. Finally, DroneCropās logo flashed on screen, and the video ended.
As soon as the video was done playing, I felt myself shaking. My best friend was now a drone, and I wasnāt. How could she have done that before me? Why wasnāt it me in that video? Why wasnāt I a drone? It was impossible to think straight. It felt like my jealousy was lighting me on fire. Then suddenly, I had an idea. I knew exactly what to do. I threw myself out of my chair, and bolted out the door. The next video my friends would see would be of me.