MANIPULATED TO SLEEP -Flash science fiction

 What could go wrong with earplugs?

Sleep-Eaze, the newest innovation in science -foam-like earplugs that block sound 100% and create a vibration that keeps you asleep. With my history of insomnia, Sleep-Eaze changed my world. For the first time in my life, I slept every night.

"You look great," my coworkers commented.

"Yeah, it is these new earplugs. It's been three months, and I am getting a whole night of sleep. I have more energy at work and even lost thirty pounds. I felt great, as did millions of people across the globe. Sleep-Eaze grew faster than any other business worldwide.

I focused on the health benefits of getting sleep, ignoring my personality change. I used to have a conservative stance, but my views slowly shifted. I went from loving freedom to wanting control. I used to be a God-fearing man, yet I turned agnostic.

"How can I help you?" the doorman asked when I showed up at a high-rise office suite one day.

What do I tell him? "I have an unshakable draw to enter your building." If I told him that, he would call security on me. I looked at him, dressed in an Italian suit. He looked like power, not a doorman. Yet I couldn't explain my unceasing urge to enter his building. The idea possessed me.

"I…I, I am sorry," I said, turning my back to him.

"Wait, sir," he said. His face had no emotion. "You might belong here."

Why would he say that to me? But his words touched me because I did feel like I belonged there.

"Tell me the strongest word on your mind," he said.

-So weird.

Yet, I had a word replay in my head for the last two weeks. Sublime. Should I tell him?

"Go ahead," he said.

"Sublime," I sheepishly replied. His lips turned up, and emotion softened his features.

"You may enter."

And so I did, but I didn't know why.

I walked through the building designed like a labyrinth. I seemed compelled in my pathway as if I knew where I was going. My journey ended in a spacious conference room where a group of people mingled.

"Welcome," a power-suit said, his hand extended as he approached me.

"Uh, hi," I replied.

"I am Theron, leader of the Change Party."

"The Change Party?"

"Yes, we are a political party. We feel the government has failed us, and we have a better way. What party do you belong to?"

"Well, I am conservative. I am…" I stopped. I no longer felt conservative. "Um, I don't have a party."

He had an unsettling grin as if my words pleased him. "Please, come in, grab some food." He waved to a buffet piled with entrees and salads. My stomach growled. And just like that, I became hooked on the Change Party. It astounded me how fast the party grew in numbers, not only in our chapter but worldwide.

I went to all their local meetings. I campaigned and lobbied for ideals I had opposed my whole life. Why now? Why the transformation? I soon found my temperament modified as well. I went from easy-going to angry and always ready for a fight. Who am I? I didn't like this new person but I couldn't kick him out of my head. He now controlled me.

One night as I readied for bed, I slipped my earplugs in. I appreciated them. It felt wonderful to get a full night's sleep. The plugs immediately sent me to sleep. A couple of hours later, I woke. It was the first time I had woken up since using the Sleep-Eaze. As I opened my eyes, I heard and felt something. Did I hear real sounds or just thoughts in my head? But they amplified clearly.

" You will honor the Change Party. You will die for the Change Party. You will give everything you have to the Change Party." The ideas didn't belong to me. Those were the president's words as if he was in my head.

I popped out my earplugs, and the voice stopped. When I put them back in, the words continued.

I don't think I was supposed to wake up. The earplugs had a vibration that promised to keep you asleep fully through the night. My earplugs didn't vibrate as I held them. They must have malfunctioned.

I rolled the earplugs between my fingers.

My cheeks burned as I realized what had happened.

Those earplugs had projected thoughts into my head, with complete access to my brain for the past ten months. No wonder my personality changed.

It made sense how fast the Change Party had grown globally, as if ready to take over the world.

The earplugs put you into a sleep state for ultimate mind control, and we had let them.

Who would have guessed that earplugs would take over the world?

Was it too late?

Could I alone stop the Change Party?

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Manipulated to Sleep

by Stephanie Daich