A normal universe

In this world, there is no magic, no divine powers, no superpowers; which makes the corruptor’s abilities all the more unique. He has used them to topple empires, reroute civilizations and change out dynasties. When societies became too strong, the people became complacent and his power over the men that controlled the societies grew. In those days, he was considered a spirit or even a demon, causing corruption and chaos wherever he went. He’s bent the ears of kings and emperors, presidents and dictators. He could bend the will of the ruling class around his pinky finger.

The corruptor had his eye on a particularly big target this time around. It would be a simple matter to march in and work his influence over this person, but there was little joy in that for the anarchist anymore. He relished in pulling strings in the background and worming his way into his target’s world in a subtle manner. That way, when the target’s world came crashing down, it would be all the more chaotic!

So, for this particular project, the Corruptor wanted to start small. He would start in the local suburban neighborhood where his prime target lived. Ingratiating himself to the neighborhood watch leader, the Corruptor learned who’s who in the bustling neighborhood. The leader, Shannon Tierney, was a shameless gossip who only held the position as a means to access even more gossip. It didn’t take any corrupting for her to dish the dirt on her community.

“Todd is worth millions,” Shannon droned on as they shared drinks in the living room. “Tech industry, most of the fellows here are in it in one way or another.”

The corruptor nodded.

“That’s why I feel like Sandy doesn’t fit in well… she’s a… well, I don’t know exactly what she does, but she lives alone.” Shannon shook her head with a small tisk. “She must be doing something illicit to afford to stay in this neighborhood!”

“What sort of thing were you thinking?” the Corruptor asked, innocently, gently prodding the housewife to delve deeper into her doubts and suspicions.

“Well, it’s not like I’m saying she’s a criminal,” Shannon backpedaled. “We had a couple of burglaries in the neighborhood in the past year, but those people were caught right away! We’ve got the best security system around! I’ve even got cameras set up inside the house to catch the crooks in the act. High enough resolution for facial recognition!”

Shannon walked up to her mantlepiece to point out a discreet circle in the frame where the hidden camera was located.

“Impressive…” the Corruptor remarked. “Is there someone watching this right now?”

“Oh no, the security company assured us that the cameras are only activated for security purposes. The rest of the time they’re off.” Shannon replied with full confidence.

The corruptor placed his finger over the tiny lens and closed his eyes. He had the ability to sense people through their desires. When someone was lying, he could tell, through their thrill of being deceptive. When someone intended **** on another, he could sense that bloodlust. His psychic probing of the camera told him that no one was watching on the other side.

“So, Shannon,” the Corruptor asked, “What gets the attention of the watchers?”

“If someone tripped the security alarm, the camera would go up,” Shannon replied, tapping her chin as she thought of other ways. “Or tripping one of the motion sensors during off hours... I could also send an emergency alarm from an app on my phone.”

“Sounds like you could give them a private show....” the Corruptor teased.

“Oh… No!” Shannon giggled, “I could never do something like that! Think of the scandal!”

The corruptor could already feel the lurid thoughts permeate through the housewife’s head. The thought of exhibitionism had set her off. Not only the exhibitionism, the scandal and judgement of her neighbors. He prodded further. “Why not? It would be a private show… No one would watch but the one person responsible for your safety...”

Shannon covered her eyes in embarrassment. “Do you know what would happen if others found out?” She bit her bottom lip. It was a thought that burned bright in her head; a forbidden fruit that shimmered tantalizing for her. “I would be ostracized! Everyone would look down on me as a slut! Robert would throw me out like I was a two-bit ho!”

The man could hear the woman’s quickened heart rate, see her look of excitement and smell her arousal. The more she protested the suggestion, the more her body responded to it.

“I mean, could you imagine? How would I even do it? Would I just press the button and drop my clothes?”

“I’m sure people in the industry see that sort of thing all the time,” the Corruptor downplayed.

“Well, then, maybe I’d forget to turn off the alarm and spend the whole day in the house nude?” Shannon considered, rising up to the challenge. She licked her lips and squeezed her legs together as she thought about the possibilities.

“Intriguing, but still innocent...” the Corruptor brushed aside.

“I suppose it’d have to be something more direct then, my own personal webcam video to the man on the other side…” Shannon surmised as if it were already a sure thing.

“Now we are getting somewhere…” the Corruptor grinned.

Liam MacLeod enjoyed his work. He provided security to a local suburban neighborhood. The neighbors knew each other and all got along. Liam was a part of that community too. He was invited to birthdays, football game viewings, and the works. He got to see his friends and neighbors all the time, including a side of them that they did not show to the public. This was because Liam’s job was to monitor homes.

The young man had only worked two years with the security company when he was given the position. His managers believed in him that much. He was in charge of making sure nothing out of the ordinary was happening while the people were out of their homes. There was an alarm system that would signal when the families had gone out, and in the case of unusual activity being noticed, he had access to security cameras installed into the homes to get a visual on what was happening.

Using the in-home cameras was an important trust that was put upon Liam. A trust that he would not break by invading the privacy of his friends and neighbors. He was a man of high morals. He would not activate in-home cameras unless he was following strict protocol. Only in the case of a security breach, an alarm trigger or an emergency signal, was the security rep authorized to access the cameras in order to assess the scene. This wasn’t a common occurrence. Most of Liam’s monitoring was checking the perimeter alarms and motion sensors and cross referencing them with normal activity.

However, there were rare occasions where Liam brought up the security cameras. Two occasions were for actual crimes, both burglaries. The police were promptly informed and the video was turned over to authorities for evidence. Another instance was when the Garretts forgot to change their schedule for the evening, thinking they would be out, but instead stayed in. An alert triggered on Liam’s screen and he investigated. He was privy to a quiet evening in front of the television watching a movie. It was at Liam’s discretion to continue monitoring in case something was amiss and he was bored that night, so ended up watching through the whole movie with the couple. It was innocent but Liam felt bad for invading afterwards. He promised himself that he would not use the cameras for anything but security again.

This was tested a little over a week later, when the Jacobsons had a babysitter watch their kid while they went out. The alarm set after they left and when the babysitter invited a friend over, that triggered the silent alarm. The two young adults proceeded to make out in the living room while Liam bear witness. As innocuous as the scene was, Liam still had to inform the owners. He explained that the alarm had been set off and what happened. They promptly phoned the house to get the babysitter’s story. The babysitter was in her underwear, trying to deny the accusations and the look on her face when she found out about the cameras was priceless. Her eyes grew to the size of sand dollars and her jaw literally dropped. Her friend made a hasty exit, but she needed to wait for the Jacobsons to return and face the music. Liam wondered how far the girl would have gone with her friend if he let them keep going, but knew that it was his job to be forthright with his clients and expedient.

Liam was only afforded a brief glimpse into the inner lives of his neighbors and it wasn’t his right to pry. In fact, it was his duty to be vigilant and not fall into the trap of voyeurism. He was only to use the cameras when it was for his job.

The security guard sipped his coffee that morning and did his normal security rounds. This involved flipping through the security app on his phone to check his houses. All were green. He did cursory scans of the yards. It was a bright day and picturesque. The video quality on the screen was instagram worthy, if there had been anything worthy enough to ‘gram. He glanced at the camera views available on the app, hovering his thumb briefly over the interior camera. He frowned at himself for even giving it a thought, then he swiped the app closed.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed and a red alarm flashed. Someone was signaling an emergency! Liam turned the app on again. It was Mrs. Tierney.