Penny spills the details

Amy, Becky and Penny are standing in front of the sinks and mirrors in the nearest ladies' toilets. Amy is pulling paper towels out of the dispenser, and passing them to Becky, who is holding them, ready and waiting, for Penny to take them one at a time and use them to dry her face and hair.

"So." Becky starts, before being unsure how to continue.

"What fucked up contract is making you just stand there while they defile and humiliate you like that?" Amy blurts out bluntly.

Penny just sighs.

"You don't have to be scared of us. I'm Amy, and this is Becky. We're two of the idiots that signed up for the strip poker game. And since then, keep managing to accidentally end up on the bad side of several other contracts, too."

"Maybe we can help. Or, I don't know, at least become friends and support eahc other through this." Becky continues.

"I'm not scared of you." Penny says softly. "I just... I don't know how easy it is going to be to make friends in a place like this. You two are lucky. At least you have each other that you can trust."

"Or get roped into a high stakes strip poker game by." Becky retorts snidely.

"I said I'm sorry!" Amy replies stroppily, but clearly also still feeling rather guilty about that.

Penny sighs again. "Look. I'm sure you're both very nice people. It's just... This place clearly encourages us to screw each other over. You have to keep your best friends close, and your normal friends at arm's length. That's just the way it is. And also, there's really not much we can do to help each other anyway. You're either going to be mega rich, stark naked, or both, within a few weeks. I'm going to be rich in a week, but have a shitty fucking week until that happens. That's just the way it is."

"You're going to be rich in a week?" Amy asks curiously.

Penny nods. "Maria is a bully and a bitch, and her friend Alexa isn't much better. But they wouldn't be allowed to do that to me normally, not without oweing me huge amounts in compensation. These things are always watching, after all."

Penny waves her Sentinel in the air.

"But... You signed a contract?" Becky conjectures.

"I signed a contract." Penny confirms. "To permit her and a friend of her choice to bully me, without me resisting or trying to escape. For a week. With certain limits... But less and less limits, each day. Today she can't touch me or my clothes. Tomorrow she can't hurt me, but can touch my clothes. And it gets worse from there."

"And she convinced you to sign that contract, in return for a small fortune?" Becky asks in wonder.

"No, she did not." Penny allows a small smile to form, at that. "Johnny Simpson did."

Johnny Simpson... Why is that name familiar? Amy thinks to herself.

"The guy from the strip poker sign up desk." Becky muses out loud. She always did have a better memory than Amy.

"Oh yeah, I'm not surprised he's involved in organizing that thing too. But yeah, the strip poker isn't the only high stakes game he's involved in. He has a lot of money, and likes to use it to pit women against each other in humiliating ways." Penny explains. "If I can make it through the week without breaking the terms of my Bully Victim Contract, I get the money AND Maria gets a rather juicy forfeit. But, if Maria can make me break the contract, she gets the money instead, and no forfeit. Either way, I likely suffer for most of a week, and Johnny scratches his sadistic voyeurism itch."

"So... Why can't we protect you? Scare Maria off like we did today?" Amy asks cluelessly.

Becky shakes her head as if it was obvious. "It can't be that easy to avoid the terms of the contract, I assume." Becky reasons aloud.

"That's right." Penny admits sadly. "Maria gets 10 minutes of bullying time today. 15 tomorrow, with less restrictions, 20 minutes the day after, and even more she's allowed to do, and a a bonus 20 minutes next Wednesday to make a full hour of total cruelty on the final day before I get my prize money. Part of my contract is making myself available, in public spaces, to be bullied. Maria stormed off because you were ruining her vibe, but she'll make sure to cash in her final 4 minutes of bullying later today, and I'll be making sure to let her."

"Fucking hell." Amy and Becky say, almost in unison.

"Seriously, this is fine." Penny says, but she sounds like she's trying to convince herself as much as the other two women. "If I can't handle this, what chance do I have of handling what she's going to do on the final day? That's gonna be, like, involve sex toys and spanking paddles and stuff. This is nothing. This is fine."

"We can still help." Amy says, with hope in her voice. "We can coach you through the sad bits, encourage you not to quite, get you mentally prepared, that kind of thing."

Penny shrugs. "Maybe, I guess. But to be honest even without the prize money, the mental image of Maria's forfeit is all I need to make it through. That bitch might not have spat on me before, but she's still been making my life a living hell, and I can't wait to turn the tables on her."

Becky raises her eyebrows. "What could be so deliciously appealing that you'd suffer through all this?"

Penny shrugs. "It's not really that huge of a deal. More **** than my bullying victim requirements, but, you know, not super crazy. A third of the second years have probably already been through worse. But... Maria's always been so untouchable, and so cocky about it. And she's finally put her dignity on the line, and I can't wait to see her face when I take it from her."

Amy smiles a vindictive smile. "I hope you manage it. I want to see Maria go through whatever you've got planned for her."

"What Johnny has planned for her, really." Penny says, raising her hands. "I'm going to be the reason it happens, but the actual terms are all Johnny's design."

"Let's swap numbers. Just in case you want to chat, or whatever." Becky suggests, again rather forcefully.

Penny sighs, and shrugs. "Sure. Why not. I'm Penny, without an E before the Y. Penny Williams."