Meanwhile, back on Earth

Adam checked his watch, as he would any morning, and glanced up to see the mailman walking along to the next house on the street. He knew he couldn't deviate from his normal day much, but inwardly he was excited by the realization he'd just had. He could feel the mind of the mailman, humming quietly through the network, reaching out to add more and more people to the network every few seconds. A neighbor, a passing driver... Adam could feel them all as the network grew, and he knew their priority was to keep adding more - to add everyone they ever saw, for the rest of their lives.

He knew he was supposed to live his life as normal so they wouldn't attract suspicion from people not yet taken over, but Adam had the weekend off, so he was free to roam a bit and was excited to get started. Even just to head inside and get his family added to the network.

If only the damn dog would finish, so they could go inside! "Coco," he called, trying not to sound irritated, "go poop? Go poop, and I'll give you a treat."

The dog in question, a fuzzy brown mix of several different breeds, continued investigating every smell in the yard, in no apparent rush. Adam wasn't even sure she understood what he wanted.

'If only I could connect with her mind, then I could just tell her...' Adam thought wistfully, then trailed off. '...Could it be that easy?'

He reached out with his mind, focusing in the way he knew he should.

Coco lifted her head like she'd heard a sound, blinked rapidly, then turned to look at Adam. Her eyes were subtly different, but it was hard to notice with her rich brown eyes. Coco immediately understood that Adam wanted her to do her business quickly, and Adam realized she'd been investigating the scent trail of a possum that had trundled through the yard the night before.

Adam was so excited, he could barely maintain his façade of a normal morning. This was perfect! He looked around, trying to maintain his cool, and spotted a stray cat that roamed the neighborhood. He focused and added the cat, then a neighbor's dog that had just come out their dog door, and finally a pair of crows perched on a telephone line. 'If we can take over the minds of animals, the network will spread like wildfire! Who pays attention to a crow or pigeon, and how far can they travel and spread the network? Especially if they're tireless like us...'

Adam felt the touch of his Master's mind through the network from somewhere far away. The Master was...laughing? The Master was immensely pleased with Adam's discovery and allowed Adam a little more freedom in his movements as a reward. The Master knew Adam's fantasies - the Master knew everything about anyone in the network, as soon as he chose to - and the Master chuckled in his mind. 'Enjoy them,' the voice rumbled, 'with my blessing.'