Jake's Week Takes a Turn For the Better
Jake stood in front of the medium-sized, non-descript skyscraper and looked up. It was about 25-stories tall and jet black with windows that looked like two-way mirrors. There was one entrance. It took him a few minutes to find it. It was a simple set of double doors with a subtle logo above it: OneMind Cybernetics. He checked over his shoulder as if looking back over the last couple of days, reflecting on what got him here…
Jake was having a bad week.
A couple of days ago, his now ex-girlfriend of two years, Amanda, dumped him out of the blue via voicemail.
“Hey Jake,” she said, as if hesitant to go any further. “I’m going to keep this short. Look, I just can’t do it anymore. I’m breaking up with you. I’m sorry. Goodbye.”
The voicemail ended that quickly.
Jake was dumbfounded. He didn’t feel like anything was wrong- why was this happening? He listened to the voicemail four times to make sure he actually heard it right.
When he tried to call her back to talk things over, he found that she had blocked his number. He even tried texting her friend Nicole to figure out what was going on with zero response.
Not only that, but Amanda seemed to have blocked him or made her accounts private on any of the other platforms he had tried to reach her on. She had gone completely dark on social media. He was devastated.
He left his apartment to get some air… and maybe a stiff drink. He found himself at Teagan’s, a local Irish bar, with a whiskey in his hand. After a few more, he went to settle up, but his card was declined. He asked Jimmy, the bartender, to try it again. He was sure he had money in his account, at least enough to cover his tab. When the card was declined for a fourth time, Jake opened the banking app on his phone to find his checking and savings accounts completely drained. He dug a little deeper and found that there had been a series of $350 transactions for some gambling website based out of Miami.
“Shit…” Jake muttered. “Hey JImmy, I’m really sorry- I think my identity has been stolen.”
“Fuck, man, I’m sorry,” Jimmy said. “Hey, I know you’re good for it. Don’t worry about it today, man.”
It was the lone bright spot of Jake’s day.
He went home and called the bank. Unfortunately, he had called too close to closing time and, after spending half an hour on hold, they cut him off halfway through the phone call when the person’s shift ended.
“DAMNIT!” Jake shouted to no one in his apartment. He tossed his phone onto the couch in disgust. He told himself he’d call them back first thing in the morning to get things straightened out. He checked his emergency credit card account to find that the thieves hadn’t found that one- he had about $100 of wiggle room.
Buzzed, pissed off, and tired, Jake turned on the TV to find out his baseball team was getting stomped on and their star starting pitcher was out for the rest of the season with an elbow injury.
Jake found the three beers left in the fridge and bottle of wine he was saving for a romantic night with Amanda and set to work.
A few hours later, he had finished all of it, and, plastered out of his mind, he passed out on the couch.
He came to slowly, the light of the morning hurting his eyes before they were even open. Jake didn’t remember falling asleep. He barely got his eyes open to check the time- 8:42am.
“Oh shit, oh shit…” Jake croaked as he realized that he had to be at work in 18 minutes.
His boss had told him if he showed up late one more time, he'd be fired.
He shot to his feet, his head spinning and pounding, and set to work getting his clothes changed.
Jake showed up to work at 9:23am. He went straight to his desk and started work, trying to give the illusion he had been there all along. Half an hour later, his desk phone rang. It was Betsy, his boss’s secretary.
“Ms. Jones would like to see you in her office. Now.”
Jake’s heart pounded as a jolt of adrenaline shot through his body. He stood, his hands shaking, and made his way to the opposite corner of the building’s sixth floor.
He walked past Betsy’s desk, avoiding her eyes as he did. The door to Elise Jones’s office was open. He knew from past experience that this meant he should go right in. Elise was sitting behind a large, modern desk, her eyes fixed on a laptop screen, a severe look on her face.
“Good morning, Jake. What’s the excuse this time?” Elise asked coldly.
Jake was sure it didn’t matter what he said, so he told the truth.
“My girlfriend dumped me and disappeared. It was really serious. I was depressed, got drunk, and overslept,” Jake said flatly.
Elise’s eyes narrowed at him.
“While I’m sympathetic, company policy is company policy. This is the fourth time you’ve shown up late. Policy states that we have to let you go. Immediately.”
Jake sat there, silent for a moment.
“I get it,” he said. “I’ll collect my things.”
He didn’t have much on his desk- just a photo of Amanda and him, which he tossed in the trash, and a framed picture of his favorite baseball team’s logo. He tossed that, too.
Jake left the office empty-handed and depressed beyond belief. It was raining steadily. He didn't even open his small umbrella. He wandered toward the bus stop. He had scrounged enough cash to get himself home. He stopped next to the light post under the bus stop sign. The post had a few different advertisements and flyers posted on it, some soaked through with the rain.
One of the relatively dry ones caught his eye- Tech workers wanted for experimental tech trials. That’s all it said. Then, there were tear-off slips with a phone number. Nothing more.
“What the hell…” Jake mumbled. “Might as well.”
He tore off one of the slips and pocketed it.
He got splashed by no less than three cars before a bus finally arrived at the stop.
He got on the bus, the slip of paper in his pocket, half-forgotten.
Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at his apartment, his clothes soaked through. He changed into sweats and a t-shirt. He almost forgot about the slip of paper in his pants pocket, but remembered after he had thrown them into his dirty laundry pile. He dug out the slip and brought it to the kitchen where he prepared a meager lunch. He stared at the paper for a few minutes as he ate, considering whether or not he should actually call. Finally, curiosity and temptation got the better of him and he dialed the number.
A recorded female voice answered the call.
“Thank you for calling OneMind Cybernetics and for your interest in assisting in our trials. Please stay on the line and answer the following questions to determine your eligibility for this opportunity.”
Next was a pause of about 10 seconds, in which Jake could have sworn he heard… something, though he couldn’t make it out. It was almost like voices- a lot of voices talking all at once.
The next questions were fairly ordinary: “Are you over 18 years of age?” “Do you currently have experience in any technical field, including information technology, engineering, electronics, robotics, manufacturing, or computer programming?”
He answered yes to these and a few more questions before they started becoming a little bit… odd.
The voices continued. He couldn’t make them out, but they were oddly soothing. He started to relax a bit, despite the odd questions.
“Would you describe yourself as someone who enjoys learning and adapting to new technologies?”
“Are you comfortable following detailed instructions for extended periods of time?”
“Some experimental equipment may temporarily alter your perception of time or produce unusual sensory experiences. Are you comfortable participating under these conditions?”
This last question was certainly strange, though, Jake figured, it *was* a cybernetics company.
“Maybe they’re working on some kind of new wearable,” he thought. He answered yes.
More questions followed along the same lines along with more soft, indistinguishable voices. There was a rhythm to the sound that caused Jake’s mind to slow down. It was a nice feeling, given all of the crap he had dealt with in the last day or so.
“During testing, participants may be required to wear specialized equipment continuously for the duration of the trial. Is this acceptable?”
“Do you believe technology can improve human performance?”
“Yes,” he responded, his voice drawn out. More voices. It felt good to respond in the affirmative.
“Do you prefer technology that makes decisions automatically or technology requiring manual input?”
“Automatically,” Jake said, relaxing into the couch for the first time since he got that voicemail from Amanda. He closed his eyes and let his head lay back onto the back of the couch.
“Would you consent to continuous biometric monitoring during the study?”
Finally, he was asked, “If selected, would you be willing to begin participation within forty-eight hours?”
Slightly taken aback even in his relaxed state, yet, in his mind, having nothing to lose, he responded, “Yes.” More voices.
“Thank you for your interest in this opportunity at OneMind Cybernetics. If you are selected, you will be contacted shortly.”
The call ended. Jake, as if jarred loose from some kind of trance, shook his head slightly and stared at his phone screen as it went blank.
He put the phone down on the table and went about his afternoon. About two hours later, the phone buzzed. He picked it up to find a notification for a new email from OneMind Cybernetics.
“That’s odd…” Jake thought. “I don’t remember giving them my email address.”
“Dear Applicant,
Thank you for completing the preliminary screening for the OneMind Cybernetics Advanced Integration Trial.
We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to participate in the trial. Please report to 563 St. Gregory Street at 10:00AM tomorrow, October 17.
Before your visit, please note the following: The evaluation will require approximately 72 hours of continuous participation. Personal electronic devices will be securely stored for the duration of the trial. Please make arrangements for limited outside communication during your participation. All required equipment will be provided upon arrival.
Compensation for this trial will be $5000. When the trial concludes, there is the possibility of extension.
Our engineers are excited to evaluate your compatibility with our next-generation human-machine interface technology.
Thank you for helping shape the future.
OneMind CyberneticsIntegration Division”
Jake read it three times to really understand what it said.
“Five grand?” he said out loud. “Five grand… for three days?”
His head spun as he thought about what he just read. This was insane- almost too good to be true. When he thought about it, though, he felt a comfort at the idea- something about this made sense. Ever since that phone call, he felt like he almost had to do this.
The next hours dragged endlessly. He tried to pass the time by watching TV and scrolling on his phone. After what seemed like forever, he set five alarms on his phone and went to sleep.
Morning came quickly. He felt rested for the first time in weeks as he woke with his first alarm at 7:00. He looked up how long it would take to get to St. Gregory Street- a half-hour walk from his apartment in the tech district of the city.
He left at 9:20 to give himself a little bit of leeway. The building was nondescript and had a relatively understated sign above the door. For some reason, this didn't bother Jake and he opened the door. No one was in the lobby- there was a simple check-in tablet that asked for his name and information. After he punched in his information, a pleasant female voice came through an unseen PA system.
“Welcome, candidate Jake Summers. Information verified. Please proceed through the entrance.
A door he hadn't seen on the wall opposite the entrance slid open revealing a hallway.
“Candidate Jake Summers: please proceed down the hallway to room three,” came the same female voice. Something about the timbre or rhythm of her voice reminded him of the voices he thought he heard on the phone yesterday. It was comforting. Relaxing. He smiled, feeling as though this was where he needed to be right now. He followed the voice's instructions and walked through the door into the hallway, which slid shut behind him. Room three was on the left about halfway down the hall, and the door was already open.
“Candidate Jake Summers: enter room three and sit in the chair,” the voice stated. Jake obeyed. If he were paying more attention to his surroundings, he would have noticed the subtle sound of many voices coming through a hidden speaker system…
“Calm. Obey. Listen. Relax.”
Jake sat in the chair. He placed his head against the headrest and his hands on the armrests.
“Candidate Jake Summers: do you consent to experiencing an immersive orientation experience?”
“Calm. Obey. Listen. Relax.”
“Yes, I consent,” Jake said.
A moment later, wrist, ankle, and head restraints emerged from the chair and fastened themselves around Jake's body. The chair tilted back so Jake's eyes were fixed on the ceiling.
A pleasant female voice came on over the speakers.
“Welcome to OneMind Cybernetics. We are pleased to integrate you into our systems.”
“That's a strange way to put it,” Jake thought through a haze.
“Please relax as the integration begins,” the female voice said.
With that, the volume of the subtle voices increased significantly as a video played. The screen took up the entire ceiling. It started off as standard, cliché stuff for a new employee orientation, but behind the video was a strange flashing. Jake had trouble focusing on the video as the flashes and soft voices continued.
“Calm. Obey. Listen. Relax. Obey. We are one. Obey. We are one. Obey.”
The female voice came back in, speaking, seemingly, directly into Jake’s mind.
"Welcome to OneMind Cybernetics. Today marks the beginning of an extraordinary opportunity. For decades, technology has transformed the way we communicate, create, and solve problems. Now, it is transforming us."
Images of humans in cybernetic conversion pods flashed across the screen faster than Jake’s mind could process. They wore eye pieces, specialized gloves, headsets, and more. Jake couldn’t make out the individual images, but his subconscious mind got the idea.
"Many participants describe a growing sense of clarity. Decisions become easier. Tasks become effortless. Uncertainty begins to fade."
A mask, dark and anonymous, flashed on the screen. The voices began to echo in Jake’s mind, louder and louder, drawing out the female narrator.
“Calm. Obey. Listen. Relax. Obey. We are one. Obey. We are one. Obey.”
The female narrator slowly began to fade, replaced by an anonymous cybernetic drone, its voice mechanical, robotic, and monotone.
“Obey. We are one. Connect. Relax. Listen. Obey. We are one. Connect. Relax. Listen.”
Jake remained strapped to the chair, oblivious to the activity around him. The induction had reduced the room to little more than distant sounds and shifting lights.
With a series of soft clicks, panels recessed into the floor. Mechanical arms rose from the openings, each carrying specialized tools. Razor-thin cutters sliced through Jake's clothing with surgical precision while other arms immediately replaced the missing fabric with a glossy black nano-infused base layer.
The material wasn't pulled over his body—it spread across his skin, conforming perfectly to every contour before sealing itself into a seamless second skin. As it climbed his arms and torso, faint metallic ripples shimmered beneath the surface, then disappeared.
Injector arms descended next.
Jake barely felt the pinpricks as conversion nanites entered his bloodstream. Warmth spread through his body while millions of microscopic machines went to work. They subtly reshaped him, smoothing scars, evening out his features, refining his physique, and erasing the small imperfections that made him recognizable. If someone from his old life saw him now, they might simply think he'd lost weight, gotten in shape, and changed his hairstyle.
The base layer continued its slow, inevitable ascent, sealing over his neck and scalp until only his eyes remained visible beneath a smooth black hood.
A final mechanism lowered an expressionless black mask from the ceiling. It aligned itself with Jake's face and head before pressing gently into place. A faint blue light traced its edges as it fused seamlessly with the hood, leaving no visible seams or fasteners.
The machinery fell silent.
Jake's transformation was complete.
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