You stare at the grid of faces.
Every one of them… someone you’ve laughed with, cried with, lived with.
The cursor blinks. Your heartbeat syncs with it.
You choose.
Their face enlarges.
The others vanish.
“Good. Loyalty is currency. We paid in theirs.”
Your webcam light turns red again.
The screen shows your chosen person, captured through another lens.
They're sitting at home. A normal day. Until…
“Watch closely.”
The footage glitches.
Their screen lights up.
The hacker is contacting them. With your secrets. Your face. Your
voice.
You scream.
You slam your laptop shut.
You grab your phone.
You run.
You burst into the nearest police station, breathless, shaking, a digital corpse of a person.
“They’re watching me! They’ve ruined me! It’s not me—it’s them!”
You show them your laptop.
You play the file.
You scroll through the emails, the faces, the horror.
But the files are gone.
All of them.
Replaced with cheerful music and kitten gifs.
The officer looks at you, blank.
“Have you taken anything… today?”
Your phone vibrates in your pocket.
One notification:
“SACRIFICE ACCEPTED. YOU ARE FREE.”
But you’re not.
You never will be.