"Are you tired of competitive gaming being a boy's club? Looking to show misogynistic gamer bros what girls are really made of? Try out for our up-and-coming new E-sports team now!" exclaimed the advert that popped upon Bethany's screen as she opened up one of the MOBA games that she had recently downloaded. She had been a long time League of Legends player, but she was feeling very frustrated with the game at this point. The persistently rude, crude or even abusive male players were a big factor, becoming especially tiresome after she trounced them so easily. Something about their fragile male ego and obsession with winning a video game made them turn into pathetic man-babies upon their inevitable defeat. And their defeat was quite inevitable indeed, Bethany was experienced, skilled and strategically minded. She knew every role like the back of her hand and could pull off victories as any character she liked. Perhaps her opponents underestimated her as soon as they realized she was a girl, or perhaps they simply need to 'git gud' as they say. Whatever it was, even her own teammates would often seem rude or hostile as they saw her dominating the scoreboards every game. Always the MVP. Sometimes she would get more kills even in support roles! The whole community had become toxic, and beyond that Bethany had quite simply mastered the game. Save for playing at a competitive level, there wasn't much point. She had downloaded a series of similar games, looking for something with the right mix of fun and challenging gameplay alongside a welcoming and positive community, but it was proving difficult to find.
Then she spotted this ad. Something about it jumped out at her. It was right, perhaps she couldn't just find a community where she would be respected for her gaming prowess instead of being belittled and verbally degraded at every opportunity by idiotic pigs. Perhaps the only way to find her dream MOBA community was to make it. To force the ugly misogynistic creatures back into whatever hole they crawled out of and remake the world of competitive E-sports into one which celebrated female excellence instead of berating or shying away from it. It was for precisely this reason that she responded to the advert.
She didn't take it that seriously initially. These things were usually very competitive and probably had thousands of replies from talented women of every conceivable background. However, she was pleasantly surprised when she heard back and was invited to an in-person interview. They even agreed to pay for her flight and put her up in a hotel for the night. As a freelance programmer, it was no issue for Bethany to take a few days for this trip, and if she did get the position she could continue her old work part-time on the side to make extra cash. She figured that would be mostly helpful in the early period before they won any tournaments or got any potential merchandising deals.
Her journey was uneventful and the hotel was higher quality than she expected. Whoever was behind this little E-sports venture was clearly willing to invest some cash upfront if they were splashing out on hotels and flights. She wasn't sure how to feel about that. On the one hand having some kind of corporate sponsor pulling the strings felt shady for what she hoped was a more organic situation, but then again you needed someone to foot the bill to get this off the ground in the first place, so there was no avoiding it. At least their corporate overlords were nice enough to treat their applicants well.
The interview was not exactly what she was expecting. Firstly, the interviewer was a man. After that advert had so harshly admonished gamer bros, she was doubtful that a man would be at all involved, but it did make sense in some ways. He wore a well-pressed suit and had slicked back hair. Clearly some kind of business type working for whoever was funding this whole endeavour. Of course if there's money to be made, he would be involved. But the upside to that thought was that yes, there is clearly money to be made here. This was a serious team, not some group of college students who won a few games and figured they could form a shabby ensemble and somehow win at the competitive level.
The interviewer himself seemed very professional. He asked her questions about her background and why she wanted to join the team. He answered her questions too, and she liked what she heard. Apparently they had filled all but the last spot on the team. He wouldn't speak too much about the other members, but he kept assuring her that they were uniquely suited to their roles and had been carefully selected. Accommodation, training and all the gear they needed (including top of the line computers and custom gaming chairs) would all be provided to them. They would share a house with each other and follow a pre-defined schedule of training designed to take them to elite levels of play within a few months, after which they would enter their first tournament which included not only a cash prize but also a secret bonus prize for the winning team. To Bethany, it sounded more than fair for what was essentially an opportunity to play video games all day without having to worry about bills or work.
The only somewhat unusual part of the interview was the 'epilepsy test'. As the man described it, playing these games for extended periods as they would be required to do could cause epileptic symptoms in a large proportion of people, and for her own safety as well as the success of the team in the long term, they needed to ensure she was not among those vulnerable to flashing lights or similar effects. He took her to an ordinary looking computer that was flanked by several small bulbs and lamps of varying colours. After he briefly set it up and explained further he asked her to put on a pair of headphones which would also be used to test for a similar condition which was caused by repetitive audio stimulus. Finally he attached a pair of wired electrodes to her temples and a simply heart rate monitor to her chest before she could begin the test.
The test itself was oddly boring. The lights flashed to life, rays of every colour swirling and combining towards the centre of the computer screen as she was told to read a few simple sentences which were displayed there. Initially her vision was blurry and she struggled to make out the words on the screen, but after focusing for a moment her eyes adjusted and she was able to read them with ease. "My name is Bethany Meyers." she read aloud for the man. Apparently they had tailored this test for her specifically, though it was probably a preset statement that they simply filled with each candidate's name before the interview. It didn't really matter. As she adjusted to the oddly swirling lights even further she continued reading, feeling increasingly bored as she did so. "I want to be a member of team Ether Angels." That was the name of the team, though it didn't much matter to Bethany. She was just eager to join. Perhaps even more so now. She kept gazing deeply into the lights and reading the phrases. "I have no problem with flashing lights and repetition" she said, watching the words fade away and then reappear. After a brief hesitation she repeated "I have no problem with flashing lights and repetition". After several more times saying the same phrase, tuning out gradually as she did so, she was starting to wonder if the test was broken. But then she saw it change slightly. "I enjoy flashing lights and repetition". Again, the phrase repeated itself. At this point Bethany began to completely lose focus. Phrases would appear and vanish and she simply repeated what they said. It wasn't much effort at all. She didn't even take note of what she was saying anymore.
Te man watched and smiled as she drooled dumbly, wide eyes transfixed on the screen. "I am entranced by flashing lights and repetition." she said softly, eyes glassy and lips mouthing the words over and over as she awaited the next phrase. "I am relaxed and receptive." she continued, voice almost monotone and her breathing slow and synchronized with the swirling lights that flooded her vision. "I am blank and obedient." The man was surprised at how few times they had to repeat the basic phrases before her consciousness began to slip. They were already pushing into brainwashing territory, and she wasn't even selected yet! "I am wet and weak willed." she stated, completely unaware of what she was saying. He realized that he hadn't even started the audio yet, and she was already this deep? Leaning in and pressing a key on the computer, the test shifted to its second phase.