Hayley didn’t wake up that morning. She just stared vacantly into space, completely unresponsive.

Her flatmate, Ella, had frantically tried to get her to say something, anything, even if it was just to tell her to ‘fuck off’.

Nothing.

Ella tried tweaking Hayley’s nipples. That usually got a reaction.

Finally, a movement. But not the one she expected. Hayley, moving in slow motion, reached up to Ella, moved her hands out of the way, then settled back down in her bed.

“Damn it, Hayley, talk to me!”, cried Ella. “What’s wrong with you?”

No response.

Hayley just carried on staring at the ceiling.

Scared, Ella phoned the emergency services…

They thought it was some kind of a stroke. The doctors were mystified. Intense stimulation, such as Ella’s squeezing of her nipples, provoked a slight reaction; almost as if Hayley was brushing away an ‘annoyance’. Anything less than that, nothing. She wouldn’t answer questions; she wouldn’t talk at all. A light shone into her eyes had a tiny flicker of response in her pupils.

“Something’s changed how she perceives things”, the doctor said. “Her sensitivity threshold is way down. She’s only aware of intense feelings; everyday sensations are completely overlooked. She’s in sort of a ‘waking coma’; I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Perhaps I can help”, came a voice from the doorway.

A tall, elegant woman strode past the doctors and, before anyone could stop her, fastened a collar round Hayley’s neck.

Hayley immediately sat up.

“What the hell am I doing here?”, she said. “Last thing I remember, I was crashing out at the flat because I overdid it at the club…”

Ella grabbed her and hugged her, then explained what had happened. Hayley was amazed; as far as she was concerned, no time had passed since she collapsed on her bed the night before.

She looked at the mysterious woman.

“Thank you”, she said. “How did you know how to help, or that I was in trouble?”

The woman then just smiled and got up to leave.

“Oh, don’t take off the collar”, she said. “You’ll just shut down again. It’s not locked on, but I’d really recommend you don’t remove it.”

She leaned down and whispered in Hayley’s ear; “You’ll find me when the time is right.”

Ella just hugged her friend, glad to have her back…

The doctors were mystified. They’d never seen anything like it before. One of them wanted to examine the collar, but Hayley and Ella both refused to let them remove it. Understanding, the doctor backed off.

“We’d rather keep you in overnight for tests”, he said, “but you should be able to go home in the morning. You, young lady, however”, he said, looking at Ella, “need to get some food and rest, now. Possibly the canteen down the hall?”

Checking that Hayley was ok, Ella went to the canteen.

When she got back, feeling better, Hayley was gone…

No-one had seen her leave. Somehow, she had found a spare nurses uniform in a cabinet, dressed in it and just walked out, looking like she was just going off duty.

Ella was furious.

“You tell me to leave her, and this happens!”, she shouted. “Where is she!”

Hayley had walked out of the hospital and up to a sleek car waiting in the carpark. She knocked on the window. The passenger door opened, she got in and the car pulled away…

Despite an extensive search, Hayley couldn’t be found. She’d literally vanished…

Back at her laboratory, the woman was looking down at Hayley, on the cot. She was completely covered by a latex bodysuit, from head to foot, looking like some kind of futuristic astronaut. Only the face was uncovered, and the woman was holding the faceplate.

“Slave H1, initialise”, she said.

“Confirmed”, Hayley, now H1, replied. “Awaiting final seal.”

The woman pressed the faceplate into place, and it fastened shut with a hiss and moulded to the rest of the suit. Hayley was now permanently enclosed by it…

Moving like an automaton, H1 went round cleaning the house. She did a good job, too; when she’d finished, the place looked like new.

Once she had finished, she went back to her new owner and stood alongside her, waiting for instructions.

The woman pressed a small indentation on the side of the suit’s helmet. The faceplate went semi-transparent.

“Disengage vocal control”, she said. “Report progress.”

“What have you done to me?”, Hayley’s voice came. “What is this thing I’m trapped in?”

“It’s your new skin”, the woman said. “You’d die without it, now. The collar isn’t good enough anymore.”

“This isn’t a treatment!”, Hayley wailed. “I’m your slave!”

“That suit’s not cheap”, the woman replied, matter-of-factly. “You’re working off the cost of it.”

“Why can’t I go home?”, Hayley replied. “I want to see Ella!”

“You will do, soon”, the woman replied. “She’s got the same ‘disease’ you have. Hers is just taking longer to work on her. Then you two can be together forever…”

“Engage vocal control”, the woman said, pressing the indentation again. The faceplate went dark, sealing Hayley back into silent darkness.

A week later, Ella joined Hayley. The two black-clad ‘androids’ then helped the woman with everything…