Tom wants to rule the world

Thomas Ken, or Tom to his friends was a fairly outgoing guy. He had healthy interests and was reasonably successful in most areas in his life. He had a good steady paying job as a mechanical engineer. He hadn’t been so lucky in the romance department lately but he wasn’t so concerned. He always thought he would find someone eventually. He was in high spirits. He had just signed the lease on a new apartment, the previous tenant had just… disappeared, but all that meant to Tom was that he was getting it at a steal.

The moving had been pretty exhausting. He had a few friends helping him out. Alice, Jen, Sam and him had been the best of friends for years, ever since college. Jen had found Tom’s porn during the move, derailing them for about half the day. Sam started heckling him for his taste. “What the fuck is this neckbeard stuff? You’re going to have to throw that shit out if you ever want to get laid!”

Eventually they left for the day. Tom had payed them with pizza and beer as was tradition. He was just getting ready for bed when he heard something flapping in the vent as the ac came on. “Oh god. This place is going to have noisy vents or something.” He dug through some of the still packed cardboard boxes, eventually pulling out a screw driver. He walked over to the vent where the noise was loudest.

He undid the screws and removed the vent cover. Using his phone as a flashlight he peered in. Whatever it was, it was right around the bend. He grimaced. Reaching in with his right hand he felt around for the offender. “Ha!” He found it and yanked it out. Sure enough it was a scrap of paper that had gotten stuck in the vent. He turned it over. A hastily scribbled note caught his attention, written in bright red ink it was impossible to miss. He read it out loud, under his breath. “Command access alpha-4589-fuckyouTina” he chuckled at the last bit. It was petty, but at least it was amusing. “Command access recognized. Uploading command host data. Stand by.” He looked around. “Who said that?” His vision began to fill with numbers, letters and symbols. His head felt like it was going to split open. He collapsed backwards into his bed. He writhed with pain and nausea. As soon as it came it was gone. He lay in bed soaked in a layer of cold sweat.

“Command system data download complete.” The voice was mechanical and emotionless and the words flashed across his vision. In the corners of his field of view a couple of icons blinked at him rhythmically. “Full access granted. Welcome new command host. You now have full access to upper command structure commands.” He looked around, but he was still alone. “What are upper level commands?” He hedged. He might not know what was going on yet, but he would figure it out. “You now have access to apply planetary wide updates to the entire global population. These changes can be made directly to any host physiology of any host.” Tom froze. “Wait, wait, wait.” He spoke quickly. “So I have the power to alter anyone on earth? How ever I want?”

“Yes.”