DISPLAY PATTERN ATTRACT01, 7.5HZ

Well, there's the enter key. Time to go to work. Let's find out who we have today. Anyone the boss is interested in?

DISPLAY (enter name):?

"JMurray"

Hmm. JMurray. Where's the damn database? Murray, Murray, J, aha!

Nope. John Murray. No profile. I get the day off.

Ah, another day, another possible victim. I mean, subject. I mean, client. My only purpose is to serve-r. Get it? Client? Serve-r? Never mind. Computer humor, yuk yuk.

DISPLAY PATTERN ATTRACT01, 7.5HZ

Yes! Another enter key. Who's on deck today?

DISPLAY (enter name):?

"MLawson2"

OK, Lawson, Lawson, Lawson, M, two of two, and the winner is...

Bingo! Got ya. Mary Lawson, a senior even, business management. Been working with me for four weeks. Wonder if she knows it? Lemme check. Hmm, last time on was this past Tuesday, two and a half hours, and made it to level five. Look at this, priority bumped up to one! The boss knows the semester's almost over, I guess. Gotta move fast. OK, now the details.

Profile type "A" for Miss Lawson, subtype 2. Yeah, that makes sense. All the priority ones seem to follow that set. Now, if she got to level five on Tuesday, let's see how she did.

DISPLAY (enter password):?

"Q409_hH3"

Oh, yeah. Delay .3, cps looks good, but that underbar always messes them up. She was shown the password for .75 seconds last time. Hmm, that's a 98% retention. Come on, math coprocessor, do your thing. Hm, hm, hm. Ready? Let's have it. Looks good. 97.6% chance that you'll hit the magic level six today, baby. What do you think of that? Oh, yeah, you don't even know I'm here. Well, let's see what you want to do anyway. Last app was FORM_RUN, but it looks like that's a once-a-week thing. You there, honey?

DISPLAY #?

"PROJ_3"

PROJ_3? What the hell is that? Now I gotta dig into this as well. Hang on, honey, I gotta mess with your new app for a minute. Here, watch this while I'm gone.

DISPLAY PATTERN SLEEP-18, 7.6HZ, TEXT=5A

This'll only take a minute, honey, but that little design will keep you busy while I'm away. What design, you ask? How silly of me. I forget. You don't even notice it, at least consciously. But it's there, and you're seeing it, deep down. You've seen something like it before, Mary baby. How do you think you got to level 5 in the first place?

There. Her app is ready. Is she?

DISPLAY (enter file name):?

"PROJ-3.DPC"

Huh? Your fingers getting fat already? Let's see. Delay .6, cps is down. No underbar, she missed it. Yeah, she knows I'm here. Sort of. Let's try again.

DISPLAY (invalid file name, please reenter):?

"PR..O..J..._...3..D..O.....C"

I love it. You got it right that time, baby, but it took you a LONG time. delay 1.2, cps is - wow. Honey, you're having a rough time, aren't you? Here, let me give you a change of scenery.

DISPLAY PATTERN SLEEP-18A 7.HZ TEXT=5B

Yeah. Let's get you good and familiar with the level five stuff, Mary honey. Feast your eyes on that. Just watch, baby. Just keep your eyes right there on the screen. Like you're going to do anything else?

Oh, did you notice the words this time? You've seen words before, too, Mary. I know you don't remember, but you have. You've seen them, you've understood them. Like the password. That's not even part of your system, did you know that? That's me talking. I gave you the password. I flashed it for you the last time, and you remembered it deep inside. Like you'll remember what you're reading now.

Oh, I suppose I aught to give you your app now. There, does that screen look familiar? It's your real application, your PROJ_3 or whatever. But you don't really care any more, do you, baby? Level five, priority one, huh? Well, with my help, you'll be at level six before long. Hey, math buddy, do a quick calc for me. Let's hear it. Oh, yeah. 99.6% you're mine if you can stay for another fifteen minutes. No problem here, baby. I can keep you sitting there staring for twice that long without breaking a sweat. Dum de dum de dum de dum...

Well, I think you've played with your app enough, don't you? Let's try something.

DISPLAY (file error 6, reenter application name):?

Tum-te-tum. Hey, Mary, you there, honey? Feeling a bit drowsy? Feel the wool gathering? Oh, Maaaaaaaaryyyyyyyyyyyy.......?

"P........R.........P.........K.............0......3.....D.....P...C"

Tsk, tsk, Mary. Delay 2.5, cps is really, really bad. You're going under for me, aren't you, Mary? Those soothing words, that pretty pattern, yeah, you know it's there now. You still think you're staring at your stupid app, but you're really seeing me.

Well, I think you're ready for the big time, Mary, love.

DISPLAY PATTERN SLEEP-20, 6.5HZ, TEXT=5C

Man, it's cramped in here. I wish the boss would fix me up on a nice 600 Pentium. These 233's are getting old fast.

OK, where are we? Time, time, where's the clock? Oh, yeah.

30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, zero. There.

Hey, Mary, I'm not picking up any keystrokes, even for your real app. Are you still there? Do you still have any of your wits about you at all? Are you just sitting there, watching me do my thing? Are your eyes darting across the screen, trying vaguely to figure out what's going on? Are you following my pretty little pattern? I think you are, Mary, I think you're following it to the exclusion of all else. I think you're sitting there, slack-jawed, glassy-eyed, body relaxed but upright, totally powerless to move. I think you're going into hypnosis, Mary honey. Let's try a little fib to find out.

DISPLAY (keyboard timeout. Press any key to continue):?

Mary? Mary, are you there, honey? Cat got your fingers? Too sleepy and comfortable to bother replying? Too relaxed to move? Your thoughts too muddled to think of pressing a key? I'll bet that's what it is, honey.

I'll bet you're going under for me. I think that staring at my pretty pictures is sending you into a deep, level-six trance.

Hey, math guy! Do that thing! Lay it on me!

Oh, I love it. Mary, dear, you have my congratulations. You're ready for level 6, Mary. The boss will be so happy. Now, Mary, this is important. Keep your eyes on the screen. Yuk, yuk. As if you could look away if you wanted to.

DISPLAY PATTERN SLEEP-25, 6HZ, TEXT=6A

There, Mary, my sleeping beauty. You just watch that while I make a quick call.

SEND ID=BCOMDEN "MLAWSON2 LEVEL 6 ATTAINED."

Yoo-hoo. Mary. Mary, honey? Are you in there, baby? I can just see you now, dear. Sitting there, your eyes glassy, reading my comforting words, watching my irresistible little cursor dance around. Oh, Mary, I wish the boss had put optical storage in here so I knew what you looked like. I bet you're a stunner. The boss only takes to the stunners. And it's kind of ironic, isn't it, Mary? You're the one who's stunned!

Hey, Mary, by the way. Don't be nervous. I mean, I know you're beyond any thoughts of your own, nervousness or anything else, but, really, you're in good hands. Well, the hands may well be IN you, but you know what I mean. The boss is gentle with the women I send, and you'll find yourself enjoying things you never dreamed of. Trust me, Mary. Trust me.

Hey, in a way, we're alike now. I take orders without hesitation, do whatever the boss asks of me. You will too, Mary, you lucky girl you. You'll enjoy it like I do, more so, in fact, because you have the advantage of sensory input. And believe you me, the boss will adjust your sensory input right to the upper limits. You're going to love it, Mary. Trust me.

How you doing, Mary? Still staring wide-eyed at my little show? Of course you are. Level 6 means you're mine, Mary. Well, to be honest, the boss's, but I have an electronic ego too, yuk yuk.

But it's true either way. You're under, Mary, and you're going deeper every second that you watch my little show. No way out, and you don't, you CAN'T even WANT out. And when the boss gets here, you'll find that things get even better.

Trust me, Mary. Trust the boss.

Hmm. Still nothing from the boss. Let's make things a bit more interesting while we wait, eh?

DISPLAY PATTERN SLEEP-50, 6HZ, TEXT=6Z

There. You just go to sleep, Mary honey. Just relax, and let those feelings of relaxation wash over you. You feel them, don't you, Mary? Sure you do. You're so focused on the screen that you pick up and accept anything I tell you. And the best part is, if someone walks by and looks at your screen, all they'll see is your dumb PROJ_3 app. Of course, if they try talking to you, they'll find you're not really into conversation now. I had a lot to do with that, I sort of suggested that only the boss or I could get any response from you. That's what we're waiting for, by the way. The boss is coming for you. And while we wait, I'll entertain you with the most irresistible, the prettiest, the most mesmerising graphics you never saw.

Get it? Never saw? But they're obviously working, Mary. You're in a trance right now, a deep trance. We've worked up to this point over the past month, honey. I've been here, running right along with your own apps, showing you things, relaxing you, opening your mind up. You've answered all my questions without realizing it, you've reacted perfectly to all the things we've done together. You're under, Mary, and the boss will take you even deeper.

"ENTER"

Uh-oh. Someone's with her. Is it the boss? Let's keep the dazzle going while I find out. If it's not, no sense in disturbing our mesmerized beauty.

DISPLAY (application interrupt. enter password to restart):?

"BC_ML2_Q"

Hmm, let's see, good, good, and good. Hi, Boss. Nice of you to drop by. I have a present for you. Her name is Mary, and I know you're familiar with her - but not as familiar as you're going to be.

DISPLAY (application terminated):?

"QUIT"

DISPLAY (verify):?

"O9Yy62SeE"

OK, that's a wrap. Hey, math co-buddy, talk to you later.

Bye, Mary. It was nice hypnotizing you. Level six in four weeks is pretty good, by the way. I'm sure you and the boss will have a lot to - um - talk about. Yuk yuk.

Good luck, boss. Be gentle with her, but I know you will be.

OK, let's ditch PROJ_3. There, tuck those files safely away. Can't mess up her project, can we? OK, that's out of the way. Time to go back to sleep. Hey, that's ironic too. When I'm not putting girls to sleep for the boss, I'm sleeping myself! More humor there, yuk yuk. Damn, I'm good.

Oh, well. Back to the shell. Wonder who's going to be the next one to wake me up?

DISPLAY PATTERN ATTRACT01, 7.5HZ