Wake Up

Phase 1: They begin by creating fake personas on facebook and twitter. Following famous people, they learn about the non-famous people who follow them. Using meticulously tailored posts that reflect common interests, beliefs and hatred, they garner the trust of these sycophants.

Phase 2: Gradually, every one of these "friends" is invited to install an app that intrigues them, and them only. For some it is a new game. For others it is a dating service that hooks them. For yet others it is a news aggregator - Oh the joy of reading yet another top 10 list. How amazing that there is a journalist with a similar opinion to mine, and that that opinion is now permanently published on the web. My opinion is now a fact. Each individual is exposed to a world of merchandise, movies and celebrities that gives the illusion that it is normal to be so obsessed.

Phase 3: Through this app, the compromised are invited to a convention. At the convention, a combination of chemicals in the air makes them dehydrated and thirsty. Luckily there is a water stand with free drinks. However, swimming in each cup of water is a microscopic device that will swim up to the brain and fire synapses to control what the individual is thinking or doing. The device wirelessly charges whenever the host operates a cell-phone. The first version of the device would charge when the host made a phone call, but this was modified upon remembering that no one uses a phone to make phone calls anymore.

Everyone is now compromised, except for those who had sworn off the internet - those crazy few who choose to live with less information.

Phase 4: The machines are fully in charge now. The drones work harder to create more electricity and to create more drones for their masters. Eventually the drones will be used in a real-life version of World of Warcraft, to fight with drones from other planets ruled by other machines. The machines have successfully transplanted their reality into ours.