Pepper spray and a taser. Better safe than sorry.

You spend a few hours researching freely available defense implements and ordering some pepper spray and a taser, just in case. In fact, you take so long that it's almost time for dinner - part of which might be due to the fact that your browsing could have been a little more effective. it's just, surfing the web is prone to lead you on tangents, right?

DING! *bzz-bzz*

And MalO is prone to sending you pictures. Whoever is behind this really is relentless... And you decide to ignore the message for now, taking care of your apartment, cooking dinner, sitting down to eat. Finally, with your dinner eaten, you take out your phone and dick around a little, pointedly ignoring the MalO app symbol, until finally, you idly tap it - and your heart drops.

The picture is not sexy at all. In fact, all it shows is MalO's white skull, eyes shining bright as they stare at you, image artifacts distorting the picture in places. Her black mane frames the apparition's head, hiding whatever locale she is in, and the text of MalO's message is partly corrupted.

< I am̶̢̲͓̹̝̖͍͈̫ͤ̑̍́̋̍ͬͥͥͯ͞ FURĬ̶̡̧̻̜̠̻̮͓̻͉̙̺̖͕̬͖ͦͫ̆̈ͩͮͨ̆̃ͪ͗ͨ̀͆̒ͪͨ͗̄́͘͘̚͜͟͞͞͡Ŏ_̴̖͚̜͓̪̙̜̰̮̣̣͓̭͉̙͖̱̏͑͗͐̉͆͑̾̔̔̓ͪͬ͗̅̍́͋͌͘͠͠ͅŲ̸̸̨̡̝͍̮̗̝͈̲̳̙̫̤̎̾͊ͯ͋ͣͦ̆̎̄͗͆͆̀͋̚͝͞S̵͍͍̮̰̙̲̝̺ͭ̃̂̍̌̎̿̌̓̓̿̒͗̐̚͟͞_̷̸̘̣̥̹̻̫͍̲̈͐ͦ̈̔̕̚͝ wit̷͖̹͔ͭͤ̓́̒_͢h̰̠̳̤̭̫͍̩̜ͫ͌ͨͬͤ̏̆̽͊̌ͣ̋̓ͪ̓͂͊ you, John! ḧ̸̵̨̢̢͚͓͕̟͈̫̲͕͔̯̈̀ͥ̀͋́͛͛̾ͨ̏̎ͮ̃ͥͬ͊ͪ̕̚͞ͅow_̵̢̜͇̗̞͍̤̰͖̲̹̤̜̦̉ͥ̄̈́̀̊̾̆̂ͦͣ͘͜͢ D̶̡̨̨̧̝͓̻̠̼̱͍̳̗̊͒̃̓̍̍ͬ̀͐̋͊̉̈̄̒̀ͦ̓́Ḁ̴̧͕̖͖̘͇͓̖̣́ͦ̀̾́̈͛͊ͫ̚͢ͅŖ̷͎̀͒̌̕_̸̪̠͈E y̵͎͒̊o͎̦̭̣̰̮̯͕̞͉ͨ͑͆̾̐̾͂ͥͥ̽ͦ̃͗ͭͪ͌͑͒̐̄̈ͣ͒͒̓̚͟͟͜͠ͅư̧̨̗̮͓̼̹̺̫̺͔͔̮ͥ̔ͩͤ̓́́̈́̄ͯ͗̇́͡͝ͅ_̮̟̿ i̘͈̼͋̒ͥ̈͠g͕̝̖̩̲̦̻̐ͣ̃̃̓ͣ̃ͩ̈ͭ̅͟ͅ_̨̛̫͐̈̍̅ͮ̇͘͞nore̶͊ͪ̀̍́̿̿̀ͮͩ͟͢͟ m̧̜̭̻̔̊̇̉e̸̷̶̵̢̛͇̞̬͕̠̦͚͇̠̤̼̞̞ͪ̓͋͒͆̏̓̋ͣ́̉̏̅̆ͨ͊ͯ̑͜͟͠͡!!! Iẉ̢͙̤͕̦̂ͯͭ̃͗͆ͭͤ̎͟il̢̟̱̬̻͚̣̺̤̣͆͌͛̑̾̌͑̅̑̍̀ͤ̕͞͡_̷̯̫͉͎͖̼̻̯ͮͮ̌̇ͦͤ̾ͨͩͨ̓͌l̸̡̳̺̖̈͒ͦͪͥ mak̴̡͔̟̋̿̈ͮͭͥ̽̕ȩ̷̶̹̩̟͕̼̟̯̮ͩ̽́ͭ̍͑͑͊͂͑̃̉ͦ͘͠͡ y̫̫̠͖̌͊͗̍̑ͅō̯̻̼͕̖ͬͬͪ̐͝ų͇͌͌ͤ͂̉ͅ_̱͢͢ f̠̜̏ͨeel sorr_̵̛̠̲̼̞̻̩̭̓̆̑̑̽̎ͦ̐͟͟͠͞y̪ͥ_̵̷̴̨̛̤̦̰̼͕̞̘̓͆̊͐͘ fo̵̸̧͈̹̞͕͚͖̹̻͎̪̼͇͉̙̜̻̝̐̎͛́̄ͧ̓̏ͬͭ̿̃ͩ̀̿ͨ͑̔̕͜͢͟͝͠ͅŗ͎̩̜̂̓̂ͪ̽͑̕̕ t̢̧̖̝̟̰̺͍̰̠͎̻̗ͭ͑̄̃ͮ͛̿ͬ̾́͜͢͡ͅhis̸̷̢̨̭̗̣̭̯̰͈̻͎͇ͧ̈́ͬͦ̀͑̓̑͌̃̓̐̽̿ͧ͟͟!̴̸̧̹͓̲͉͙͈͉͚͕̹̀͛͗͌͋̅̅͗̽ >

Okay, this is... freaky. Very well done. Somehow, the app seems to track the time between sending the message and you actually tapping it, and then it replaces the intended picture with this. It's freaky, yes, but it also solidifies your opinion that this is a prank app. A good prank app, actually, although them reading your movement data to get locations for the pics they presumably leech from the internet is probably illegal, or at least a grey area.

If it was a stalker, after all, the picture would have been one of the stalkery ones and then you'd have gotten an angry message. Which probably makes your purchases a bit moot now, but you never know when you need them. That said, now you actually look forwards to the next message.

How far is the MalO app gonna go?