Gavin stepped into the conversion chamber, looking over the captive.

The big bear in the reclined chair struggled uselessly in his restraints, snarling insults. He had of course been stripped of his clothes and dressed in a pair of tight black spandex shorts.

The musclebound cougar ignored him and the abuse he was yelling and carried on with his duties. After all, it was nothing he hadn’t heard before, pretty much every subject he tended to had similar things to say.

It was sad really, Gavin thought to himself. This poor guy had yet to experience the bliss of conformity, he was still caught in the trap of having free will and individuality. It was a good thing he was here to help him with that.

He placed the conversion kit he had with him on the worktable against one wall and carefully unpacked the contents. The headset, the implant, the syringe of serum. Everything was in order.

The cougar then stood to attention, staring straight ahead, awaiting orders. The restrained bear was still yelling and shouting at him. Calling him a ‘brainwashed zombie’ or a ‘musclebound freak’, along with insulting comments about him being a cougar like all the others and how he wore so little, just tight spandex shorts.

The way Gavin just paid no attention just seemed to annoy the bear all the more. There was just nothing the captive could say that could get to him. He was happy being a cougar, happy to conform and obey, happy to wear exactly what everyone else wore and nothing else. And once the bear had been helped to conform, Gavin knew he would be just as happy.

After all, so many had found utter happiness when they had conformed to the new world order. As far as Gavin was aware, almost the entire planet had now conformed and found the bliss of obedience like he had, washing away all the other cultures and societies in an unstoppable wave.

The signal came through the implant behind his left ear from Conformity Control. The final vital sign scans had been completed. The bear was ready for conversion. Gavin had been given authorisation to proceed.

He immediately got to work, picking up the headset and approaching the bear. The captive’s demeanour changed from anger to fear as he realized what was about to happen. Instead of insults, he was now pleading. Saying how much he liked being himself, being a bear, being free.

This was completely normal, in Gavin’s experience. Prior to conversion, all captives tended to beg to be spared at some point, claiming a desire for freedom, misunderstanding that conforming would actually be freeing them, from the stresses of having to think for themselves, from the curse of being different.

The headset easily slipped over the bear’s head, earphones slipping into the ears and visor over the eyes. He hit the activation button, and the bears struggles ceased, the big ursine slumping in the chair. The headset was bombarding the captive’s brain with new information, wiping away all that was unnecessary and unimportant.

When the Conformity had first started spreading across the globe, some had called this ‘brainwashing’ and ‘advanced hypnotic mind control’, but those terms were meaningless to Gavin. To him, it was a gift, a blessing even, to be helped to mentally conform to a better way of being.

That just left the physical conformity to take care of. Gavin retrieved the syringe and administered the injection of the transformation serum into the unresisting bear’s arm.

The serum, like the headset, had many detractors back before most of the world fell under the Conformity’s control. Some called it an ‘abomination’, others claimed it was the product of ‘psychopathic cougar-obsessed mind’. Which seemed like nonsense to Gavin. To him, there was nothing at all wrong with giving everyone a perfect cougar body, it was part of conforming, and so it was a gift to be treasured.

With the injection done, Gavin once again stood to attention and waited for the bear to complete his transformation. He didn’t need to watch it happen, he’d done this so many thousands of times before. He was vaguely aware of the captive’s body shifting and rippling and changing beside him, but that was about it. He simple stared ahead, his mind blank and at peace, waiting for the signal that would indicate the conversion processes were complete.

The signal eventually came from Control, and Gavin got back to work, turning to the captive.

Instead of a bear, the chair and restraints were now occupied by a big muscular cougar, just as big and muscular as Gavin. He did a quick examination of the new cougar as he unbuckled the restraints and found no indications of abnormalities or signs of ursine physical attributes. The serum had done its job well, just as it always did.

Gavin then removed the headset, looking into the face of the new cougar, who was smiling and looking happy.

“Report status.” Gavin ordered.

“I have conformed.” The new cougar responded. “I am happy and at peace in my conformity.”

Nodding at the correct answer, Gavin got to work on the final step, picking up the implant and reaching down to press it against the skin behind the new cougar’s left ear. Once he activated it, the small device attached itself, digging into the flesh and hooking itself into the nervous system and ear canal. Like Gavin’s own implant, it would allow Conformity Control to monitor him and send him instructions when necessary.

The new cougar sat up, staring into space, head cocked slightly to one side as if listening. Gavin knew he was receiving commands.

“I am to report for duty assignment.” Said the new cougar, getting to his feet. He looked at Gavin. “Thank you for helping me conform. I feel so much better now.”

“You are welcome.” Gavin nodded. “Praise the Conformity!”

“Praise the Conformity!” The new cougar agreed, smiling broadly as he departed, bound for whatever duties Control decided would best serve the greater good.

As for Gavin, new instructions arrived a few moments later through his implant. Clean up the room and make it ready for another captive. There were plenty waiting to be helped to conform. Gavin supposed the cougars assigned to hunting down those who had yet to know the joy of conformity must have been particularly successful recently.

He got to work, happy with his tasks, happy to soon be helping more poor people become happy conformed cougars…