They were an elite unit. "Israeli communication corps" was what they were called but everyone knew that was code for the most technically advanced hackers and computer spies in the country. There were 4 platoons, 10 each, two male and two female, and they backed each other up. They were the finest, best-educated Israelis. They were all conscripts, as was most of the Israeli Army, but that didn't matter much; they had the best jobs in the Army; the best pay for conscripts, easy hours, and missions that kept them well out of the hell that was the contested area. They got to live at home, not on a base, and got a pistol instead of the bulky M-16s that everyone else carried.

So when the general approached the units with a major mission, one that would make them sacrifice their benefits for a short time, they were almost all happy to oblige.

The mission was top secret, and their marching orders clear.

"There is a new operating system, one that we believe has some sort of mind control element to it- stronger than that used by CARTER."

The CARTER system - some of the younger soldiers, the Ameriphiles and the US immigrants, those who preferred English to Hebrew, still used it even though it was obsolete.

Still there was no fear of the system; the fear was more of the US government. They were friends with America, but privately afraid, and public invasions made the government worry that they would use Israel as a base for a genocide against Arabs. The Jews had come too far to become a host to another Auschwitz, no matter how comfortable the prospect of being free from the menacing Arab was to even the most peace-minded Israeli.

The men were sent to America to spy on Dorman and American media. Many were sent as contractors for Dorman computers. The first 10 women were to break into the government's web matrix to discover their plans. The 2nd group was to break into the machinery to find the tactics that the government used for its subliminal messages and determine if the system posed a threat to Israel. That was supposed to be the easier of the two; the spyware-based systems were notorious for being easy to hack and too complicated to fall under at their centers.

So when they said good-bye to their families and lovers they thought their indefinite lockdown would be for a week at most. 10 women, all young, the oldest being 25 and she was the commander- Esther Cohen, as serious as her twin sister was carefree. She feared America, even though she still was great friends with many Americans and visited there with her sister on their 2 weeks of leave every year.

She helmed the first computer, while the others would take on other areas of the mainframe.

Tovah was the youngest, a computer whiz who earned technical officer status without deferring to attend college first. She handled the youth area.

Hila was the pretty one, a soldier by day and a model by night. She giggled at the plans. "What's so wrong with a program called Britney? Are we still jealous of the pretty ones?" She took the advertising mainframe.

Shoshana was the angry one, always focused, always ready. She took what Esther thought was the most dangerous part of the hacking- the educational system.

Laine was Esther's best friend, who she had known since writing web sites for college projects. She was Esther's aide de camp and went on to find the new entertainment matrix.

Leah was the best hacker in the unit, so she took the interior functions to see how exactly Britney operated.

Liv was the toughest; she came from the contested zone and lived on base. She would take whatever she was given, so she took the military programming.

Aluma was the survivor; she lost both her parents in a car accident and fought on alone. She took the economic systems.

Limor was a leader with a low rank fresh out of college. Esther already hand picked her as her successor when her term expired in 8 months. She was assigned to the oppositional system, the most pertinent to Israel; it showed what enemies Britney wanted to eliminate.

And the last was Ashley. She was born in the US and still used an American name but her parents moved to Israel when she was four, making her a full-blooded Israeli. They left with the end of the Cold War, and she was excited to help fight the 2nd Cold War. She knew America the best, so she was the one who was assigned to the most mysterious part of the system. The one only known by its code name- bleach.

They set out together, and worked through her various web sites, television setups, and government protected matrices. It took Esther by surprise that someone broke through on the first day. She smiled at the cheap security system. This is easier than it looks; at this rate, we'll be home in a week, she thought. And she set out to investigate the program.

"It's all cartoons!" Laine giggled. "The new entertainment matrix is all computer-generated. They don't use actors or actresses."

Esther pondered this. "Of course, it's a no-risk plan. No worries about the deviance of modern celebrities."

"And besides," Laine added, "since when could a real human male look... that... handsome!" The last two words came out in a heavily breathed broken English that garnered a weird look from Esther, but not much concern.

"Next thing you know, you'll get engaged to Mickey Mouse if you keep thinking like that. It's just some artwork of some muscle-bound schmuck," Esther joked back in a motherly Hebrew before returning to her work.

Later that day, another broke through and her hope grew for a speedy end to this battle, especially since it was Limor's project, Britney's targeting system. And when she looked at Limor her hope grew even more. Then she spoke, and it was only then that she realized that she had a problem.

"They gonna take care of the A-rabs for us, boss. They are a good charitable people and they will lead the A-rabs to the lord and freedom just like they gave the Afghans Enduring Freedom, and the Iraqis Iraqi freedom, and took the Syrian terrorists out of our free democratic neighbor of Lebanon." Her words still came in Hebrew, but the Hebrew of a stranger, maybe someone from Jerusalem.

"A holocaust helps no one!" Esther reminded her protegé.

Limor shook the thoughts from her head and stepped away from the computer and took Esther by the shoulder. "I'm sorry, but this computer is tougher than you think. I need something to distract me. That thing, it's strong! When I said... what I said... I felt like I was in the arms of the softest, most sensitive man whispering those thoughts into my ear in the most relaxing manner. I couldn't make this up if I tried and it's taking most of my strength not to go back there."

Esther realized the problem, but what could she do? She had to get that information. Indeed, if it were that powerful, it would be a worldwide threat, worse than all the nukes or conventional weapons ever made in human history... combined. She needed to strategize, and she sent Limor out of the room to rest from the signals in her head. She then walked over to Laine's workstation. What she saw horrified her. Empty water cups were strewn haphazardly on the floor all around her. Laine's hair was out of line, and her glassy eyes and girly smile were firmly fixed on the well built actor whose pictures now adorned all corners of her workstation.

Esther tried to interrupt her fantasy, or whatever had gripped her friend. "Well, at least we know the actors are cute," she cracked. There was no response, just a muffled coo under her breath. Esther grabbed her notes, and flipped through in horror. From detailed notes about the 10 channel system, the different targets, the working of advertising into each message in Hebrew on one page, it slowly became less coherent and useful. Then she read on... "The system uses a sexually rewarding...(PAUL!)...system of reinforcement..." Esther gasped as the Hebrew got more broken and integrated with English, before transforming to all English. "Oh! Paul, you are so nice to me, putting up with my silly language, teaching me all the fun things about being alive, showing me more than I could ever learn..." Esther's heart sank as the English love letters further degenerated into goofy drawings and ramblings in a grammar so incoherent that she could not even understand it- she, who started her military career as an English linguist.

And then she saw the little heart logo Laine was scrawling into her desk because she didn't even notice that her commander took her notebook for review. "Lisa, Paul, and Jesus forever"

"That's quite a threesome you got there," Esther said in English.

"Oh, like, Jesus loves everyone, he is the guide, Paul is the man. And WHAT A MAN!" Laine's English had already started picking up a slight hint of the South.

Esther tried to humor her. If she could get Laine away from the system, maybe the doctors could awaken her and let her know what she was up against.

"Lisa? Would you like to get some grub?" she rationalized.

Laine replied, "Would I? Man! I'd kill for an O'Reilly burger! I must've been talking to Paul more than I thought."

Esther then told everyone else to call it a day early, then went to the general to give her report.

"We are here to find out all we can. If this is as dangerous as this seems right now, we need to find out as much as possible," the general said coldly. "This is a worldwide threat. Take this slowly, but find out as much as you can. Be strong and avoid whatever... weaponry you encounter."

Esther couldn't believe her ears. She kept her tone even, but her anger still leaked through. "My top aide is going mad and you say keep going?! We don't know what we're up against. She doesn't even know her name or her language anymore! It's only been a few hours since she cracked that code! Who knows what could happen? With all due respect, sir, I don't want to know!"

"This is war. Figure out a plan to keep safe. I trust you. You're the best we have. Check with the doctor to see what's going on, and then get back to searching. Write down everything, make sure they all write down anything they feel or see."

"You knew about this all along, didn't you?" Esther replied.

"Not like this. It wasn't war before you showed me these notes. I want you to get in there and do what you can to destroy this machine. If you need bombs I'll alert our operatives on the ground in America. If you need more men, you have a backup unit."

"I understand your position, but I don't think we know enough. But I will go ahead, sir," Esther grudgingly agreed. The last thing she wanted was to send for their backup unit, not when that was her sister's assignment.

Esther was up all night in the bunks trying to figure out strategy in her head. Limor was the only other one awake. Esther saw her and wondered aloud why she was awake.

"It's calling for me. Softly, sure, but it's calling for me, and I can't sleep," Limor whispered.

"It's addictive too, isn't it?" Esther replied.

"Barely," Limor said. "It's more like this sense that while I'm away I'm being the enemy."

"It'd get worse the longer you stay there. It was only a few hours and Laine already doesn't know a word of Hebrew," Esther answered.

"This isn't even the deepest part of the program, that's the most scary thing here."

"You're going to take over for me. You saw into her. Tell me, what should I do?"

Limor stared at her for a long moment before answering. "Attack the heart of the system, together. Install some virus, anything, but destroy it."

The next day came, and the unit was told to create viruses for their systems. They would be going in together from now and track her every move. This system was a worldwide threat, and that they couldn't back down.

Laine came to her, still only speaking in English. "Believe me, Natalie, it's not as bad as you think."

"What the hell?" Esther replied, sure that Laine had really cracked now.

"It's not that bad, but she is a tough girl, and I still want to get her." Laine said, trying her hardest to shake the feelings in her head, and recalled some broken Hebrew. "I was at her heart, she's turning me into a slut!"

"We've noticed. You will stay behind because of your condition. We'll set off the virus in your area for you."

Laine agreed, but her presence still cast a pall of impending doom on the unit. But yet they moved on, putting in passcode after passcode, devising idea after idea. They moved together, first observing the areas that were already broken, then moving into the deeper parts; they kept each other awake by conversation, by staying together. Esther knew that some would fall once they advanced past the entertainment center, dropping their bomb along the way, planning to detonate all 10 shells at once when they reached the mainframe, a central computer to destroy a central computer. They reached the oppositional system and they stared, aghast, at the slurs, correcting each other as they tripped on them, even making jokes. "Needless to say, I put the flood program where they discuss killing 'dykes'," said Leah and they all laughed.

As they moved to the next level, Esther felt the chill again, and again she knew she had lost her protegé to the hate machine. They moved together, but she could feel that one of them was missing. She took a quick glance at Limor's computer, and indeed she was still behind in the oppositional system. Esther took her notes, a mishmash of racial slurs and love letters to God mixed in with important information. She used it as a way to keep the others from going under.

They broke into the youth section and the images became stronger, the loud beats and the gyrating dancers. But the lyrics were changed to fear God and promulgate the system's messages. Esther knew now that her assignments were as much a death trap as the system itself. But she was oblivious to that. She instinctively moved over to Tovah to move her away from the machine, but the giggling was not coming from her. "I moved on to coding the next virus," she explained. "I knew I was in danger, I could hear the rhythm taking me over and quickly ran."

Esther found the source of the giggling- Hila, flailing around, singing along to the God-fearing music. She tried everything she could think of to snap Hila out of it, but Aluma put a hand on her shoulder.

"She's dead. Let her go. Once we destroy this thing we can try to cure them."

Esther looked at her. "She's not dead. But you're right, once they fall under, we have to leave them."

They moved to the next level, the educational system, and were shocked.

"Learn nothing, get a Ph.D," Ashley said. "I wish my history was this easy. Tovah agrees, man, we don't even need algebra, or to write sideways."

The last sentence alarmed Esther and she tried to get them past lest she lose two of her best hackers in one level.

"Ashley, you know more than that," she reminded her American-born colleague sharply. Before the conversation could go further, she led the group deeper into the system, letting Ashley and Tovah come if they wished.

The coldness brought them further into the system and they moved from the concrete to the abstract. By this point they didn't even know where they were, who they were with or when it was.

This was not lost on Esther. She noted this down and picked up a pattern. Days passed in a blur, and she lost track of who was still with her and who was being led by the pied piper with no shirt and over-built muscles. She could sense from the amount of English in the room, the mindless chatter, and the sensual sighing and cooing that she is alone. Even Aluma the hard-nosed survivor was leaning back in her chair, her hands clinging to the keyboard, with nothing but her undershirt and pants on in a state of artificial bliss. Yet Esther pushed on, even though she couldn't tell if her movement was to further her own feelings of pleasure or to fight the power giving her this pleasure. The mission plan became blurry and she struggled just to write in any language.

And then she could no longer go on. She looked around, unsure of the day, the time, or anything pertaining to their mission. Her glance through the room allowed her to see the rest of her unit. All were strung out, breathing heavily, glassy-eyed and vacantly staring. She tried to pick up their notes, but squints at the Hebrew, trying to put words together, trying to make sense of it all. She couldn't even decipher the characters, or identify the language. She couldn't place where she was, or what day it was, or what time it was. "Believe me, Natalie, it's not that bad," a male voice called, first softly, then louder. "Believe me, Natalie, Jesus will protect you and I will love you forever."

She tried to shut off the computer bank, but she ended up tripping over herself, her knees growing weak at the image on the screen. Then she climbed back into the chair, eyes locked on the screen. "Tuesday, 11pm, Natalie. I know you were curious." the voice calls to her. She looked around but she knew that that soft male voice was in her head. "You are a great leader, Natalie, you really are. You have a great plan, a great vision. You will make a great wife, your kids will be proud." Esther paused, but at the touch of an arm across her chest, she relaxed. "Believe me, Natalie, you 10 will go down in history. And I love you for that."

Esther tried again to avoid him, whatever he was, that shepherd leading her and her unit to hell. "I despise you, you are an e...eeeeee...oh..." The last shred of resistance left her body as she reacted to his touch . It was just pictures on a screen, but her feeling was just as real as it would be with any flesh-and-blood lover. She couldn't just give up; she still had the hope that was the anthem of her country, a country whose name she could no longer recall.

"Believe me, Natalie, it's over now. You're a great leader, and a great leader goes down with her ship." She looked down at her pad, her last refuge, but she couldn't even read most of the information. She knew the final process, could feel it changing her; she felt it happen to each of her assistants, one by one, and after the 5th they couldn't even tell who was left. Her last words... spelling her last memory... Entry, Validation, Assimilation, letters she knew were important, but whose meaning slipped just out of reach.

She knew what it was like now, the feelings burning right through her uniform and right into her mind and body, destroying her soul. Weeks passed and the government didn't know what to do. They did everything at the same time at the same pace, then ran back to their computers as if drawn by a magnet.

Meanwhile the transformation grew deeper with every stare, every kiss, every feeling coursing through their bodies. They were lost. They no longer lived, though they existed. Memories were erased, thoughts were blinded. Her vision changed, and she saw herself in the presence of her guide who she clings to like her most intimate relation. She gazed longingly at him, and he led her. She no longer saw herself in her uniform, but instead in a sweater, miniskirt and knee high boots, her hair a little longer than her actual military issue haircut. She laughed when he laughed, smiled when he smiled, thought only what he told her to think. She could see her friends, too, still recognize them, but not by their true names.

She lay down, smiling, pleased, happy for the job she did, pleased for the future she would have.

She saw herself, the self that she was, and that person was a stranger who she tried to pull to her lover's side but who ignored her pleas. So close yet so far. Yet the heartbreak was none, even though she wanted that other self to join her. Her emotions were gone, except for the serenity of the silence that grew more profound and more peaceful with each and every caress.

Peace, it was all around her. War was her country's life, but now she was at peace. And then he left her and she cried out for him, crying, crying as she fell into another's arms...

"Believe me, Natalie, you will be something special, yes, you will." The mother tickled her newborn under her chin and it squealed. She then kissed it on her forehead and laid her down in her crib. And the grown brunette from Israel fell into her new bed in Beverly Hills, there to exist for Britney and speak for Jesus. An elite unit, legends of Hollywood and music. Britney's beloved firstborn, the 10 commanding comics. And she was still the leader.

And everyone believed Natalie.