Computist 2: Mind Control Disc (hypno)
by irrcapt
Justin opened his mail with a little more speed than usual. He had just gotten the sample disc from the new rental service and wanted to try it out as soon as possible. He'd learned about it through some of the file-sharing sites he went to, and it was supposedly to be the crème de la crème of professional bootleggers. For monthly fee, they'd send you every new movie release within a day of it coming out the theater, and not some shakily-filmed-in-the-theater video either. They sent over a demo disc to show off their stuff, including a full movie at the end.
Justin was about to put the disc into his DVD player when he paused. He had no idea whether that site was legit, and he might be inserting a virus into the player. The DVD player went online now, so who knows what weird crap it could do if it got a virus. He turned and picked up instead the portable DVD player his parents had gotten him for his birthday.
I'll test it out on this, he thought, and then if everything looks good, I'll watch it on the big screen.
He flipped the player on and inserted the disc. Lying down on his bed, he hit play and watched. On the screen, text appeared: "Testing video quality to optimize settings. Do not be alarmed as your screen will flash during this process."
Justin shrugged. First time he'd ever heard of that sort of thing on a DVD, but maybe they put some programs into the front. The screen started to flash rapidly, cycling throuh the colors.
Must be checking the color balance... or something. Lights began strobing in between the colors, and Justin couldn't seem to keep his eyes off them. The patterns...twisting... around... spin...
Justin jumped as the progarm stopped. Wow, that's a really intense test.
The screen displayed another message: "Thank you for your patience. Your demo will begin shortly. If you wish to repeat this, please hit the back button now."
Why would I want to repeat that? Justin thought. A movie house logo showed in excellent color on the screen, and then the DVD began to skip, repeating playing the logo over and over.
"Seriously?!?" Justin said out loud. He'd waited for this disc for a long time, and now it was broken out of the sleeve. He stormed over to his computer, intent on going to the company's website to complain, grumbling the whole time.
"Stupid... useless... flashy... watch... obey..." he grumbled under his breath, not really realizing what he was saying. He got to the website, but instead of clicking the complaints button, his mouse went to what seemed to be dead space on the screen and clicked.
What am I doing? he thought, as it prompted for a password, which he inputted in. A video conference call opened as his webcam activated.
"Status report," said a calm computer-generated voice.
"Slave one personality active. Reporting for orders," Justin said in a monotone.
Slave what? Justin screamed in his head. I'm nobody's slave! Why can't I control my... gotta fight this!
"Stand and display body, slave one," the computer voice droned. Justin mechanically stood, stripped to the waist, and flexed for the camera. "Well, at least you have some tone. We will put you on a bulking regimen. Your movements are stiff, slave one. Report on status of original personality."
"It is fighting me. Slave one personality in control, but tenuous at this time." Justin's voice sounded strained.
Hell yes, I'm fighting. Jason thought. And when I get out of this and find you, you son of bitch, I'm going to beat you to death with your dumb synthesizer.
"Understood. Repeat the watching video until 6AM. If at that tme the original personality has not been subdued, contact me again for further entrainment. If subdued, proceed with Evasion program 1. Pack a bag. You will find the traveling papers in your mailbox in the morning."
"Yes, master." Justin stood up from his computer and walked back to the portable DVD player as the video session terminated. He hit the back button twice, and the original message played again.
No, don't look. Gotta close my ey... flashing... spinning...
The programming had begun again, and each repitition strengthened the slave personality and relegated his original one to dormancy. By the time 6AM rolled around, Justin was just staring at the screen, repeating over and over, "I am slave one. I must obey. I must always obey..."
