The Strip Poker Sign Up Desk, in the Rec Room

Jennifer Richardson and Johnny Simpson are relaxing in the rec room when a young blonde woman approaches, with a serious look on her face, with a young brunette hurrying along behind her. The blonde woman looks very serious and full of conviction. The brunette looks panicked.

"I want to sign up for the strip poker game. You two are the ones to talk to, I've been told?" The blonde woman says, not beating around the bush, or even exchanging pleasantries first.

"Amy, you shouldn't do this. I can't let you do this." The brunette stammers, positioning herself close to the blonde, but to the side.

"You can't stop me doing this, you mean." Amy responds darkly.

"Ooh goodie, one more for the game! And I was worried it was going to end up running with only two players." Jennifer says happily.

The brunette's eyes narrow with suspicion. "If you want more players, why are you being so strict with a sign-up deadline of today, when people are only just arriving today?"

Johnny smiles widely. "Because the game is starting tonight!"

"That doesn't... Why... Never mind." The brunette shakes her head. "Is there space for a fourth?"

"What?!" The blonde called Amy barks with shock. "No, don't be idiotic!"

"She was my friend too. I am not going to let you take all the credit for saving her now, am I? So if you sign up, I'll be signing up right next to you."

"Becky, don't be a fool! Do you realize how serious this is?? Losing clothes means spending the entirety of your 20s dressed as a whore!"

"That's what I'm trying to get you to understand! But if you won't listen, then I'll have to convince you this way."

"Care to make it official? Make a contract with me." Jonathan offers. "If your friend Amy here signs up for the game, you promise to sign up too. If you break the contract you owe me... Half a million dollars."

"Fine!" Becky declares. "It's a deal. ...Err, don't we need to sign something?"

"Not with these." Jonathan raises the wrist with his Sentinel bracelet on it. "Simple verbal contracts are legally binding and easily verifiable thanks to these. So effectively, by saying 'it's a deal', it's already set in stone."

"What have you done?" Amy says darkly. "We can't both win! I can't join in the knowledge that my victory means your utter humiliation!"

"That's not quite accurate." Jennifer offers. "There will be three 'streets' - kind of like three rounds, and if the game has four players, which it would if you two joined, each round the players in 1st and 2nd place would win money, and the players in 3rd and 4th place would lose clothes. So if you both placed 1st and 2nd between you, all three times, you would win all of the money and lose none of the clothes."

Both Amy's and Becky's eyes go wide, for different reasons.

"Don't. Don't you dare." Becky warns in a low voice.

It is very clear to both Jennifer and Johnny that Becky knew that Amy wouldn't go through with it since they both couldn't win. This was her trump card, and the reason that she had so readily agreed to the verbal contract with Johnny.

But the concept that they both couldn't win had been a deeply flawed assumption, and now Amy could once again seriously consider committing both herself and her friend to this insane game, safe in the knowledge that it's at least theoretically possible for them both to survive without any humiliation.

...That is, until she reads the rules.

"Hole cards have to be 'earned' via contracts? What does that mean?" Amy asks, studying the first page of the huge Strip Poker contract.

"Each player is dealt four hole cards at random from the deck." Johnny explains. "You can 'earn' as many as you want, and then choose and bring exactly two to the showdown. This means that if you don't earn two cards, you will automatically lose the showdown, and there's usually little point in earning more than two. 'Earning' the cards always requires entering into a new contract with the card's 'custodian'.

"Custodian?!"

"That's right. Each card you are dealt will detail who the custodian is and how to find them. You will have one week to approach each custodian and learn the details of their contract. The custodians don't just get to make up whatever contract they want - they are very specific contracts, predetermined by the game organizers, and usually the custodian gains nothing themselves from the contract. They just get to say that they played an important part in the game."

"What sort of contracts, though? Give me some examples." Amy says cautiously.

"That depends on the value of the card." Jennifer chimes in. "The lowest cards, like 2s and 3s, that are least likely to get you the winning hand, have relatively mild contracts. Maybe you need to work in the local Hooters for a day a month, or **** you to grant your Sentinel permission to recount your porn watching history with whoever asks. Pretty much all the contracts end when you graduate."

"Those are MILD?!" Becky squeaks.

"Shut up." Amy snaps, being uncharacteristically short and cold with her close friend. "Tell me about some more **** ones."

Jennifer smirks. "Well, the best example I can give you, is the Queen of Hearts that the winner was brave enough to earn last year."

"Stephanie. We've met her." Amy interjects calmly.

"That's her. Well, you might want to go check out the dorm right next to the start of corridor A when you get a chance." Jennifer says cryptically.

"I'm not leaving here without deciding whether or not to sign this, so please just tell me the details right now." Amy replies seriously.

Jennifer raises her hands in apology. "Of course. There's no need to be coy, this is serious business, after all. Three of the four walls of Stephanie's dorm are completely transparent, and have no fixtures or fittings. From both inside and outside the building, you can see right inside, like a giant doll house or art exhibition. She has zero privacy while inside her dorm."

"Which is also the only place she's allowed to change clothes or partake in any sexual activity." Johnny adds with a polite chuckle. "Amongst other stipulations."

"Essentially, what for everyone else is private time, for Stephanie is an exhibition." Jennifer concludes.

"But she can get changed under a towel or whatever, right?" Becky asks.

"She did that a lot at first. Nowadays, she hardly bothers." Johnny answers with a happy smirk. "And she used to hide completely under the covers when flicking the bean. But now she just faces the one brick wall and puts her hand up her skirt."

"But that's not a contractual requirement." Jennifer clarifies. "Steph just had some exhibitionism awakening or something. Or she's just been a massive slut all along, and was just being coy at first. Who knows."

"What about Kings and Aces." Amy asks darkly, still incredibly serious.

"Nobody knows for sure, except the girls from last year who were offered them, and the custodians who explained the contracts. And the contract writers, of course, but they're all very hush-hush about the entire thing. Because it creates an exciting sense of mystery, I think." Jennifer muses.

"What are the rumors?" Amy presses.

"Oh, there are countless rumors, some fanciful, some believable. For example, one of my friends swears he heard that one ace required the player to drink the custodian's piss every day. I... Could just about believe that. But another rumor is that an ace required the player to be bound in stocks in the courtyard as a free use cumdump for a whole 24 hours, once a month. I really don't think they'd go that far. Plus just imagine the procedures and due care necessary to make sure that didn't get out of hand and cause lasting pain or injury."

Jennifer looks up and sees that both Amy and Becky's faces are rather disgusted. She raises her hands defensively. "Nobody's ever picked an ace. So, I'd say it's safe to assume that you wouldn't either."

Amy spends the next several minutes studying the lengthy contract, while Becky frequently urges her to see reason and stop even considering it. But Amy just flat-out ignores her.

Finally, after a painfully long amount of time, Amy looks up. "I've decided."

Everyone waits with bated breath for her to continue.

"I'm going to do it. I'm going to join the game."

Becky lets out a pained gasp, as her own fate which she stupidly tethered to Amy's, is also sealed. She will have to play too.