Pets are the first wave...

They live among us, sleep next to us, map our homes, watch everything we do.
Assessing behavior, testing tolerances and weaknesses.
Goddamn near every home has a pet or 4.
I love the shit out of mine, but I swear, their little Nikon eyes are
cataloguing every stupid thing I do. Probably streaming it across the universe
to some laughing alien culture as "alien reality tv"
Can you think of a better way to gain complete control of the human race slowly, without messy initial warfare?
They would know every detail of our lives. They wouldn't all be alien agenst mind you, just some. A million or so, in choice households and demographics, forever observing and cataloging. Perhaps some sort of Doppelganger hybrid alien that can take on common pet forms.

The way of things...

It occurs to me that on the whole, the new cancer will be nanotechnology.
At first, like metal, like plastic, like gold, like oil, like uranium, it will be the answer to every problem.
Nanomeds, NanoStims, NanoTranqs, NanoGens, NanoHair, NanoTeeth, NanoFlesh, NanoMetabolisms, NanoAcid NanoDemo, NanoVirus, NanoPet, NanoBlood...
In a minimum of 20 years, every aspect of the modern world will be forever altered by the all-encompassing and irrevocable force of Nanotechnology.
Every function of modern life will be affected.
Military, Societal, Medical, Academic, Scientific, Law Enforcement, Luxury, Tourism, Recreational drug use, Sports Enhancement, Construction, Production, Transport, Aerospace Engineering, Genetic Engineering, Civil Engineering.
As certain elements become more scarce and sought after, structure, rather than
substance is likely to become more important.

The future is small, invisible to the naked eye, and smart with a vast memory and far reaching feelers. Ever reaching, adapting, with a small stomach, voracious hunger and a long life.