1 Truth and Many Lies

"There's a rational explanation for that." You start, before stopping. You... you didn't even know why the app did it. You hadn't opened it since Rebecca had become your pet. For the first time, you were flying just as blind as everybody else. You promise yourself that you'll check the app whenever you next get a chance.

"Well, I'm waiting." Olivia leans over the table holding her phone out to you like a gun pointing at your heart. She is convinced, and based on the way Erica and Sephora are looking at you, they are just as convinced.

You reach mentally, trying to think of ways to discount the evidence. "Uh, well first off, how do I know that you didn't make a second note? Yeah, you wrote up the first one in front of Erica and Sephora, but maybe you then hid it and made another one that looks worse?"

Sephora speaks up. "No, you've definitely gained points. I knew that I was due tomorrow to get my job, and this morning I thought that at least you'd get one the day afterward, and then Olivia would be the only one without one. Now, you have enough to last two more days."

You look at her, feeling betrayed. She had defended you last night. Now, she was your executioner. "Alright fine, maybe I did get points. That doesn't mean that I'm responsible for this. Rebecca will tell you, I haven't touched my phone all day. I haven't left her presence for very long at all. When would I have time to slip myself some points? Unless you think I control this magic app with my mind?"

Rebecca looks down, guilty. "No, when you went to supervise Erica when she cleaned your room, there was time that you were alone." You look at her, shocked. Was anybody on your side now?

You can't help but stumble over your words. "Ok, fine. So I was alone then. So what? How do we know that this is my fault? It could be the app doing something without my knowledge. We've already said that it seems biased against you all, giving sexual roles and punishments. Maybe it's trying to boost me without my knowledge." That is a half-truth at best. You don't know what happened, but you also could probably easily figure it out, by simply opening your phone, reading all of the details.

Olivia's words are argumentative. "It's possible. But if so, then we need to balance the scales. If you are unfairly benefited, we can tear you down just as easily. Absent any true explanation, we need to keep all possibilities on the table. This is a simple way to test you. If you're punished, if you walk in here tomorrow with a collar or whatever, then we can accept that it's just random happenstance, that the app awarded you points due to some inscrutable reason. If you're not, then we'll find something to do to you. We can't hurt you, but we can tie you up, or make sure that you are always watched." You look at Sephora. She nods. She agrees. Your exile is sealed.

You have ****. You have to tell at least one truth. The only answer you have for the points. "So, I think I might know what happened. So I sort of... heard something while I was going to the bathroom a couple days ago. It was coming from Olivia and Erica's room, and I sort of heard some dirty talk. I realized you were having sex, I was embarrassed, and went to my room afterwards. I was looking at my phone, and I saw Olivia gained points soon afterward. I think that not only the jobs can give points. I think sex stuff in general gives points. Rebecca and I, we had sex a lot today. Maybe all of those points are due to that. I gained 45 points from your math, and Rebecca gained 25 in addition to the 75 from being with me during the 8 hours. Maybe those points came from the sex we had, and the additional points I got were due to the gender bias thing with the app."

It is a truth wrapped in a ton of lies, but that's the one truth you can give them. It's not like it would help them anyways, with Erica trapped in chastity and the two of them fighting. Olivia looks pissed though. "YOU KNEW THAT AND DIDN'T SHARE THAT WITH US? WE COULD HAVE USED THAT TO GATHER POINTS, TO TRY TO STAVE OFF PUNISHMENTS AND GETTING THOSE DAMN JOBS."

Was it a mistake, telling her that? You look at Sephora. You try to explain yourself with another lie, at least with the barest semblance of a truthful backing. "Well, I thought it'd make me sound like a pervert, like I was listening at your door or something. It could've helped, but I just sort of worried about how it would've sounded." Sephora looks at you with sympathetic eyes, and even Erica looks at you unsure. But Olivia is on the warpath.

"That doesn't change the facts. You could've still cheated and given yourself points. The punishment still stands, he should still be locked behind the door." You look at Sephora, as she looks down, before nodding. Then a small squeak. "There's a bed in there now. So at least you don't need to sleep on the hard ground." Sephora is trying to lighten the blow, but it is still devastating. You told the truth, and your sentence still stands. Your effort was worthless.

Olivia stands. "Now, you heard me. Get out. Go into the black staircase and we lock the door behind you. We can't **** you to go, but we can make your life a living hell, yelling at you until you leave."

You look at her. If they tried to physically **** you, you could knock them aside with Body of the Master. Hell, you could knock down the door and tie them all up later. You could simply sit here and your hold your ground with it. But there's no point. You'd only convince them that you'd done something wrong, that you were at the very least not willing to listen to them.

"Fine. I'll go. And when I get my punishment, I'll demand justice, I'll demand Olivia suffers the same fate. It's only fair, right?" Sephora looks at you, respect in her eyes as she sees you stand, walking to the door. You turn around to look at them one last time as you stand by the door, only to see Rebecca crawling frantically toward you. Soon she is by your ankle, as she looks up at you, sad. "I'm coming with you." You want to say no in the moment, after her words at the table, but you need any semblance of support you can get. You nod.

Then your final words to them for the night. "Don't forget to lock it. Wouldn't want the bad scary man to come and take you down to his evil sex dungeon." And with that, you and Rebecca walk through the door to the staircase, closing the door behind you.