Reading

"For another 5000 credits, can you please read us a few pages from a book of our choosing. You have spoken your mind out so impressively that we would now like to see how well you do in expressing others' ideas." The host's face is unreadable as he offers the apparently easy prize.

Ellie, her discomfort of being half-undressed notwithstanding, can make a good enough guess as to what the trick will be. "Will I be able to stop early and lose the prize then?", she asks, expecting a confirmation, but the host shakes his head. "Once the challenge is accepted, the terms and conditions of the show kick in. You will be liable for the show's losses if you drop an accepted challenge... But there will be an easier way out", he hastens to add, seeing Ellie's face darken at the implied threat.

"If you feel the task is getting too much all you will need to do is take off your skirt and the challenge will be completed. You can then leave if you like, all you will need to do first is listen to the next challenge and decline it."

Ellie is close to grabbing her jumper and storming off there and then, but even though she knows there will be a catch, the task seems straightforward enough. And if she is showing her bra with no trouble, why not her panties too, shouldn't the same principles apply? She can leave right after and not show any more than she would on any beach with probably even more perverted men around. Also, another 5000... Well. She would be a fool not to at least consider it. But then, of course, she would also be a fool not to see what the show is doing. Boiling a frog at its finest... And the more the frog thinks of itself, the worse are its chances.

"A few pages, definitely under a hundred, written in plain English, and I can take my skirt off and leave if I want to stop early?", Ellie hears herself asking. The host nods. "Yes", he says simply. This really should alleviate her fears... But it does not quite.