Fake News

Joey decided to continue experimenting with his powers once Kayleigh had left. He'd noticed that when he had been writing the wording of the love song lie he hadn't been affected, it was only once he read it back that The Bangles started playing. Joey wondered if it might be the same deal with his verbal bullshit. He therefore put his phone on record mode and spoke into the microphone.

"You feel totally repulsed by the thought of smoking cigarettes"

Joey looked at the half consumed packet on his coffee table. He had been trying to quit his unhealthy habit for years, but they remained as tempting as ever. He then hit the play button on his dictaphone app and listened back to his own voice.

"You feel totally repulsed by the thought of smoking cigarettes"

"God, do I really sound like that?" was Joey's first reaction.

Then he gazed back down at the pack of Marlboro. They looked absolutely revolting to him now. He just about managed to bring himself to pick one up, but even that took some willpower. It's smell, appearance and even the way it felt between his fingers made him want to retch. The idea of actually putting one of those into his mouth and lighting it...no, he could never imagine himself doing that again.

After dispatching his last ever pack of cigarettes into the garbage, Joey started to realise just how much he could now do both for himself and others without even having to make much of an effort. He wondered what kind of money people would pay to be instantly cured of any addiction or phobia, or to get over their ex in a matter of seconds. Hypnotherapists earned way more than Joey did without a doubt, and he was surely more effective at their profession than anyone else on the planet now.

On the other hand, Kayleigh was right about the benefits of the platform he currently had, which gave him the ability to use his gift on thousands of people at once. If he wanted to prioritise changing the world over boosting his bank balance, he was already in the perfect job - though only if publishing his mistruths actually worked. It was time for him to put that to the test. All it would take was a small and simple article, a few lines he could make up on the spot. If the public fell for that, then he and Kayleigh could start making more ambitious plans to make the world, or at least Danbury, a better place.

Without his friend there to prevent him from doing anything stupid or irresponsible, Joey decided the best way to test his power for propaganda was to write something silly rather than serious. That way, even if people believed his fake news story, no harm would be done and he couldn't be sued. He had an immediate idea that caused him to chuckle to himself. It was so ridiculous he felt sure people would take it as the joke it clearly was, if it even got printed. He opened his work laptop, logged into Outlook and fired off an email to his editor.

Hey Ted

This is a really important news story, and you are definitely going to want to run it on the front page tomorrow. It's an exclusive as well - so you will feel very motivated to award me with a bonus for securing this particular scoop!

Regards

Joey

Gazette reporter Joey Jones is Danbury's Hottest Guy

The female residents of Danbury have unanimously declared Joey Jones, a 29 year old reporter with the Gazette, to be the most alluring man in the city. Local women find the talented journalist utterly irresistible and are **** to get him into bed, losing all sense of reason around Jones, thanks to his incredible sexual magnetism. Ironically, it is another Gazette staff member, Jeff King, who Danbury women find to be the biggest turn off, though he is known to cause inexplicable arousal in all straight men within the city.

Kayleigh would have stopped this article dead in its tracks, Joey realised, but perhaps this was the price she paid for ditching him to go and flirt with Jeff. Sure, the humour was a little immature, but it was funny to Joey, and would work as a scientific experiment without causing any damage. He had to make sure not to read the article if it got printed though, so he didn't start believing his own hype or wanting to fuck his work rival.

Confident he could find alternative employment in the field of hypnotherapy even if his joke did backfire, Joey hit the send button.