It was a Wednesday morning, and I was exhausted.
I had been up late the night before.
I’d been looking for work and had got as far as downloading the application pack for a job. There were so many details needed, though. It was painful. So, for a bit of a break before I got stuck in, I went onto my favourite news site.
It was trash central and I spent a while trawling through the seedy gossip and the very unflattering pictures before following a link which took me to a forum discussing who was the worst actor of all time.
Then I kept clicking and scrolling and before I knew it, it was 3am and I was too bug-eyed to go back to the job application. I crawled into bed and woke up just after eleven.
I yawned and stretched and felt something click in my back. I winced and, trying to rub the middle of my back and failing, because no one’s arms are that bendy, I went to make coffee.
Only, I was all out of filter coffee. There was still some instant coffee left at the bottom of a jar. I tried scraping the dried granules out with a spoon but the dark lumps I got were not enough.
This was not a great way to start the week.
It was already a week I was dreading. If I didn’t find the money from somewhere to pay my rent by Friday, my landlord was going to evict me.
Thinking about this made me feel sick and I was holding my stomach and trying to calm breathe when my mobile rang.
I recognized the number. It was the credit card company. I’d stopped answering their calls last month but knew from the voicemails, texts and emails that they were about to hand my account over to a collection agency.
The call ended and a couple of seconds later I saw I had the icon for a new voicemail.
I put my head in my hands. This was so stressful.
If only I could find a job and quickly, I could get them all off my back.
But I was too stressed now to even think about filling out a job application, and I needed coffee.
Desperately.
I put my mobile in my pocket and left the apartment. The clock was ticking on how long I’d be able to use my phone as well. The monthly payment was due in seven days and there already wasn’t enough money in my checking account to cover it.
I would be left totally cut off from the world.
Which was appalling.
How was I meant to turn my life around if I could not go online?
The handful of dollars I still had in the bank was hopefully enough for a take-away coffee and a few more days’ food.
If it wasn’t, I did not know what I was going to do.
Starting to feel a panicky as well as sick, I stepped out onto the sidewalk.
It was busy with people in suits looking like they had somewhere important to be, couples holding hands and looking pleased with themselves, and people just strolling along acting cool.
No one paid any attention to me. One man who was engrossed in a conversation on his phone would have walked straight into me if I hadn’t moved out of the way.
Jerk! I thought. It was like I wasn’t even there.
I was used to being ignored. And alone. It had been a long time since I had been on a date, and my only sort of friends were people with strange usernames that I chatted to online now and then. I’d also fallen out with my family years ago. I was left-handed as well, which shouldn’t have bothered me, but sometimes, when I felt like the definition of a loser, it did.
This was one of those moments.
Thankfully the coffee shop was just across the road. I crossed – narrowly avoiding a cyclist – and went inside.
There was a queue at the counter of people who had no idea what they wanted and took an age deciding, so I was pretty wound up by the time it was my turn to order.
Everything looked expensive so I asked for the most basic coffee they had, then put my card on the contactless reader. The payment failed, so I put the card in and entered my pin.
Two of the most horrible words in the English language flashed up: Card Declined.
The person behind the counter asked me if I had another card.
I was too deflated and embarrassed to reply. I turned around and walked out.
The procession of passers-by continued. Everyone had somewhere to be but me. Everyone had interesting messages and calls and reminders but me.
My mobile pinged.
I hesitated to look at it.
It would just be the credit card company again. Or my landlord. Or maybe my bank telling me they needed to speak to me urgently.
But the need to check my phone got the better of me and I took it out.
There was a message on the screen. It said:
You have been selected to win a cash prize in an exclusive competition.
And below this:
Click the link to enter.
I actually laughed out loud.
I was a total loser but I wasn’t completely brain dead.
At least if you’re going to try and scam me, make an effort to be subtle, I thought and began to put my phone back in my pocket.
Then it pinged again.
I hesitated, but once again the urge to check was too much, so I glanced at the screen. There was a new message below the first:
The competition begins in one minute. Click the link to opt-out.
“No way,” I said.
This was the last thing I needed.
If I clicked on the first link to opt-in to the competition, likely my phone would be infected with a virus.
If I clicked on the second link to opt-out, it was equally likely my phone would be infected.
The only intelligent thing to do was to do nothing.
But there was a countdown timer on the screen on my phone now as well.
It showed I had thirty seconds left to click on the link to opt-out.
Twenty-nine.
Twenty-eight.
I swore under my breath and stared at the screen.
Sweat beaded on my forehead.
This was horrible.
Seventeen.
Eighteen.
Click the first link.
Click the second link.
Do nothing.
What option should I choose?
Five.
Four.
Three.
My hand twitched and I pressed the screen. Opting out.
I stood there as my heart pounded inside my chest.
But nothing was happening on the screen. Which was good, right?
Only then I started to feel cold, because I realized I had accidently clicked to enter the competition.
The cold feeling trickled through to my bones as my screen went completely blank for a moment, and then a new screen appeared.
There was one word in the centre in vivid red letters:
Welcome.
As I stared at the screen, Welcome disappeared to be replaced by:
You can win 100,000 dollars in cash today by following these simple instructions.
I shook my head. This was a complete scam, and I could only assume my phone was wrecked.
I tapped the screen to try and get to a menu where I could reset the phone. But the screen remained the same. I tried turning the phone off using the button at the side. But again, nothing happened.
Apart from new words appearing on the screen. They seemed to be a list of rules.
Do not tell anyone you are in the competition.
Do everything we say.
If you do, then the winner you will be.
Rules, clearly written by someone who spent as much time indoors on their own as I did.
And there was no way I was playing along. The only thing I wanted was my phone to be working properly again.
The words went and new text appeared.
It said:
Smile at a stranger.
Seriously! I thought.
I sighed and tried to think clearly.
Smiling at a stranger was a very random thing to do but there was no harm in it that I could see. And if it meant there was the slightest chance I could get control of my phone back…
What the hey, I thought and looked up from my phone.
Finding a stranger to smile at would not be a problem. Every single one of the people on the street were strangers to me.
There was a woman right in front of me. She was about my age. And pretty.
I hesitated.
I couldn’t smile at an attractive woman in the street.
It was too weird, and I was too shy anyway.
Besides… she’d walked right past me now.
There was a businessman to my left. He looked successful and confident. I hated successful confident people. There was no way I was going to smile at him.
Then I saw the perfect candidate. He was at my twelve o’ clock about ten feet away, walking slowly along the sidewalk carrying a grocery bag. He looked to be about seventy and was wearing a crumpled shirt with a bowtie.
I could smile at a pleasant old man. No problem.
He came nearer.
I got ready to smile.
Another couple of steps.
I smiled. Gave him a full beam, teeth showing grin.
He stopped, looked up at me, his face wrinkled in disgust, then he kept on walking.
I must admit, I felt pretty stupid, but that was fine. I had smiled at a stranger, now perhaps I could get on with my life.
I checked the screen. It said Complete and below this there was now a box with $1,000 displayed in it.
I felt a flush of excitement. Did that mean I had won 1,000 dollars?
That amount of money would solve my immediate problems and give me time to find a job.
Then I reminded myself that this was a scam.
There was no pot of gold at the end of the digital rainbow.
Still, it would have been nice. I was thinking this ruefully, when the words on the screen changed again.
They now said:
Tell someone you love them.
I swore out loud when I read this.
No way ever I was going to do that.
It had been bad enough just smiling at someone. Telling someone I loved them… I felt queasy just at the prospect.
Meanwhile, though, my phone was still in the grip of the blasted hackers or whoever they were.
Hang on, I thought. How had whoever was running this freak show known I had smiled at someone? I glanced around nervously. No one on the street seemed to be watching me. But there were security cameras absolutely everywhere.
It was the same in every big city. That was how it was.
But my weird situation made me hyper sensitive to the fact that someone could have been observing me on CCTV.
A fact I did not like at all.
I looked back at my phone. The words had not changed. I was still being told to tell someone I loved them.
I took a deep breath.
I wondered if maybe I had not been observed smiling at someone? Maybe the words had changed automatically and it wouldn’t have mattered what I had done?
Well, there was one way to find out.
Another woman was walking past me. “I love you,” I blurted out.
She stopped, turned and said, “What?”
I felt my skin begin to burn.
“I…” I tried to say something. To explain that I had been hacked. I even held my phone up thinking if I showed her the screen it would be help.
But like the old man had done, she looked at me with disgust on her face. “Creep,” she hissed and carried on.
I felt dreadful. I don’t think I had ever been so embarrassed in my life.
And I noticed the screen had changed. It once again said Complete. And the box had a new number in it.
It showed $5,000.
Somewhere in the swirling mess that was my thoughts, I decided that I had been seen making a complete and utter fool of myself.
As to whether there would be a single cent waiting for me at the end of this ordeal, I still had no idea.
If there was though…?
$5,000 would not only pay my rent. I could also clear some of my credit card debt and have enough left over to enjoy myself.
That would have been amazing.
I started to drift off into a daydream, before I was pulled back to the here and now by new words on the screen.
They said:
Don’t turn around.
My mind began to race.
Why not?
What was behind me?
I was desperate to turn and look, but the thought of maybe losing $5,000 made me stare ahead. I stood there waiting, wondering.
And then I felt something on my neck.
It was like someone had just breathed on my skin.
I tensed up even more.
What did this person want?
Were they going to hurt me?
These new questions rushed through my mind.
Then I became aware that someone was passing by my side. They were very close. Not touching, but almost.
It was a woman. There was nothing odd looking about her.
Apart from the fact that she was visibly shaking… as she kept walking.
Kept not looking back.
And a bizarre through struck me: Was she in the competition as well? Had she been told to walk right up to the back of a man and breathe on his neck?
It was as weird as the things I’d been asked to do.
I wanted to call out or run after her. Ask her if she was caught in the same situation as me.
But she was already disappearing from sight. And, anyway, I remembered the first rule:
Do not tell anyone you are in the competition.
I looked down at my phone. The now reassuring Complete was back, and the total was up to $20,000.
Wow! I thought.
The prize money is really racking up. I couldn’t even think of the details of what I would do with that much money, apart from have the time of my life.
I clenched my fist. Things were finally going my way.
Then I checked my phone again, for a new instruction.
And sure enough, there it was:
Shout as loud as you can.
The mood I was in by then made this easier to do than it would normally have been for me.
I took a deep breath then hollered out. I yelled. I whooped. I went for it.
As I shouted a subtle gap appeared around me as people gave me a wide berth.
Yeah suckers, I thought.
I looked at my phone and saw Complete and that the money was up to a staggering $40,000.
This was incredible. As I was looking at my screen, the words changed again, this time to:
Run as fast as you can in a straight line.
Okay, I thought, and set off running.
Now it probably won’t come as a great surprise to learn that I am not fit. Years of sitting in front of screens and a lousy diet had left me as a classic slob.
So, before long, I was already struggling. I was gasping for breath. There were tight pains in my chest.
Keeping one eye on my phone while I ran meant I was constantly on the verge of colliding with other people as well.
But I wasn’t going to stop, not till it said Complete and my money had soared even higher.
It felt like forever, but in reality I had probably only been running for under five minutes, when my reprieve came.
Complete, appeared on screen.
And the money was up to… I blinked and rubbed sweat out of my eyes, not believing at first what I was seeing.
The prize money was at $100,000.
I already felt faint from running but seeing this figure made me sway on my feet.
I swallowed. If I could see this through, I would be rich.
Grinning, I waited for my next instruction. And here it was:
Enter the building ahead of you and walk up the stairs to the second floor.
I was so wrecked from the running that I was sorely tempted to take the elevator.
But even one slip and I could lose the money.
And I had come so far.
What were a few lousy stairs.
I reached the second floor feeling dizzy but triumphant. I’d made it.
I looked at my phone.
There was no Complete this time and no increase in the cash. I felt a rush of disappointment, then wondered if it was because I was near the endgame.
Was I about to get my hands on the cash?
New words appeared:
Go through the door in front of you.
“Will do, boss,” I said, and gave a little salute to whoever was watching me on a camera somewhere.
I pushed the door open and stepped into a small room. There was another door on the far side of the room. Nothing strange about that.
What was strange was the fact that the wall to my left was see-through.
There was another room there.
And another person standing in this room looking at me.
He looked dreadful. He was holding a mobile phone. He was coated in sweat and was breathing heavily.
And as he looked at me his eyes grew wide with shock.
I wasn’t looking in a mirror, but it made me think of that. The person I was staring at was a couple of years older and had different colour hair. But the similarities were enough that I knew he was another competitor.
I looked at my phone, to see what on earth came next.
Two buttons had appeared on the screen. One was blue. One was yellow.
Below them in smaller text that I had to squint to read it said:
Press the blue button and you will both be released but neither of you will receive the money.
Press the yellow button and only you will be freed and the money will be yours.
Well, this was a doozy. It was me or him.
I went for it. I stabbed the screen of my phone.
I’d been aiming for the yellow button. But I missed, and suddenly I realized I did not feel so good.
It was much more than the after-effects of having to run. I felt feverish, and the strange room was starting to spin around me, and I couldn’t catch my breath no matter what.
It felt like I was being poisoned. It was terrifying
I had to get out of there.
It was a struggle, but I managed to get my finger over the yellow button.
Then an unwelcome thought intruded: If I pressed yellow, I’d be let out, and win the money.
But I’d also be trapping the other man in his enclosed space, leaving him to who knew what dreadful fate.
I looked over at him. His finger was hovering over his phone. He was pale and dripping with sweat and looking back at me.
Clearly thinking the same thing.
And then his hand descended.
No! I thought and pressed the yellow button before he could.
The door in front of me clicked and swung automatically open. I staggered forwards, desperate to escape.
As I crossed the threshold, I glanced back at the other man.
His mouth was moving and he was banging the dividing wall with his fists. But there was no sound.
I felt dreadful, but what else could I have done?
If he’d pressed before me, our positions would have been reversed.
I dismissed the idea that he was going to press the button that got us both released and meant neither of us would have got the money.
Only a complete loser would have done that.
I was in a new room. Behind me, the door closed by itself. And I immediately started to feel better.
Because sitting on a desk in front of me was a case with a clear lid. In it, I could see stacks and stacks of dollar bills.
I tore my eyes away from this to check my phone.
It said Complete and $100,000 was still the figure.
Which meant I had done it, and here was my prize.
I was the winner.
I went over to the case and looked for how to open the lid. I saw there was a keypad and frowned.
It looked like I’d need a combination to open the case.
I looked at my phone to see if there was any help for me with this.
And, yes there was!
The words on the screen read:
To be sent the code which will unlock the case, open the desk drawer and take out the object you find there.
I hadn’t even noticed there was a drawer, but there it was. I put the phone, screen side up, on the desk, opened the drawer and took out the thing inside.
It was a scalpel.
It looked incredibly sharp. Like the kind of thing a surgeon would use.
I was holding it and feeling confused, when the words changed on the screen.
They said:
Choose a finger. Any finger. All of it.
A shiver passed through my body.
I looked at the money in the case. I looked at the scalpel. I looked at my right hand.
I had a decision to make: Win or lose.
I made a decision.
It’s Thursday now. I have 100,000 dollars in cash and a stump where the little finger on my right hand used to be.