You check out the mysterious package first.

The package is pretty small, about half the size of a loaf of bread. It's a plain brown box, with no markings on it anywhere except for your address, which is printed on an address label sticker. No return address is provided. Other than that... nope, it's just a box, sealed with packing tape. It's a total mystery.

For a moment, you're apprehensive. A small, plain brown box with no indication of where it came from? Yeah, that's not ominous at all. You wonder if one of the idiots at school is playing some sort of prank on you, but this seems pretty elaborate for them; usually they'd just prank call you, or taunt and throw things at you as you walked home from school. Going to the trouble to actually mail you something is a bit more effort than those lazy jerks would put into tormenting you.

Finally, you decide to throw caution to the wind, and grab some scissors. Taking care not to push too deeply into the cardboard, you slice through the packing tape, and open the top of the box. Inside, you find a bunch of crumpled-up newspaper -- ah, economical and environmentally friendly -- and then...

...a bracelet.

Someone shipped you jewelry? Anonymously?

You take it out of the box, and examine it. The first thing you notice is that it's actually pretty big, much bigger than your wrist. If anything, it looks like it would fit on your forearm. It's not solid like a bracelet, either, but segmented. You give it a gentle tug, and find that it's stretchy, like some sort of elastic. _Okay, then, some sort of... armband. _The segments are definitely made out of some sort of metal, and have a shiny silver lustre to them -- but you don't think they're silver. Granted, you know practically nothing about metals, but this doesn't seem quite sparkly enough to be silver. Maybe stainless steel, you think. One of the segments is larger than the others, but aside from that, they're all uniform and rectangular. The thing basically looks like a really big wristwatch with no face on it.

Still puzzled, you look back down at the box, and find something else: a folded note. You reach in and pull it out. It's typed and printed on what looks like a laser printer -- no handwriting here for you to analyze, not that you could even if you wanted to. The note reads:

Sam:
I know this package comes as a surprise to you. Please apologize for my terseness here; I'm in a bit of a time crunch, so I have to be brief. The object contained in this package is called a Manipulator. I know it looks like some sort of simple fashion accessory, but the truth is that it is far, far more. The Manipulator is a prototype telepsychic transmitter. In essence, it lets the wearer broadcast mental images to anyone within eyesight. Using the Manipulator, you can essentially cause another person to do or believe nearly anything you want.
There's more you should know, but I'm out of time right now. Take it, and figure it out. I have faith in you.
P.K.

You stare at the note for a while. Several conflicting emotions fight for dominance in your brain. First, of course, is giddy excitement at having a new toy. This is basically your reaction to any new piece of hardware, and this thing certainly qualifies.

But that feeling is quickly replaced by suspicion. First of all, you don't know anyone with the initials "P.K.". Second... seriously? A device that broadcasts thoughts? How gullible does this person think you are? The last time you heard about a piece of technology that supposedly "reads people's minds", it turned out to be a simple gimmick controlled by the wearer's jaw muscles clenching or relaxing due to stress. Something that could actually do what this thing purports to do would be front-page news across the entire globe!

Finally, that feeling is supplanted by anger. Clearly, somebody at school is playing some sort of elaborate prank on you. Granted, it's a really... obtuse prank... but what else could it be? What do they hope to gain by this? Do they want you to wear this thing to school, and then point out to everyone that you're wearing strange jewelry? Some new, strange way to tease you?

And yet... for some reason, your eye is drawn back to the strange armband. You don't know why it's so intriguing; it certainly doesn't look impressive in any way. It does seem to stretch in an oddly pleasing manner when you pull on it. You wonder if something actually would happen if you put it on...