She decides to wait

"You know what?" she says to herself as she shoves her phone in her bag and starts to head back to the apartment, "I don't care anymore. I'm just...just done with everything." She keeps talking to herself as she walks along the quiet park path. "I'm going home, drawing myself a nice hot bath, making dinner, and, hopefully, avoiding Eliza for the rest of the night."

Katelyn wasn't looking forward to seeing her roommate. Eliza and Lydia had hit it off at the party, so Katelyn was sure her roommate had her browser history, too. Eliza was usually at work at this hour, so if she was lucky she could focus on some self-care and spend the rest o the night in her room undisturbed. She simply needed time to try to relax and think about the next steps in her life.

The apartment is empty when Katelyn arrives home, so she uses the opportunity to draw herself a bath, put on some music, light some candles, and try to relax. It proves difficult. Instead of relaxing, she breaks down crying in the tub. Katelyn thinks about all of her experiences and the way she's been treated. Back when she was in college she assumed her desires were perfectly normal and that people, for obvious reasons, didn't talk about their kinks in public. But now, after the way she was kicked out of school, disowned by her parents, treated at the party, and ostracized at work, she felt abnormal. Like a freak. Maybe Lydia and Eliza were right - she was a pervert. Even after the humiliation of her internship she continued to frequent those websites and have fantasies.

She finishes her unfulfilling bath and peeks out into the hall. Listening, there isn't a sound in the apartment, so she's sure Eliza is still out. Wrapping herself in a towel she heads into the kitchen and grabs some leftover Chinese from the fridge. After heating it up she retreats to her room to hideout for the rest of the night. Out of habit, Katelyn sits down in front of her computer to eat. However, as she moves the mouse to bring it to life a wave of shame washes over her body. She can't even bear to open the web browser. Instead, she clicks on the Netflix app and settles into her bed to distract herself with The Office.

At some point, Katelyn must have nodded off, because the next thing when knew Eliza was screaming at her with the door to her room open. In her hand, she had a familiar hairbrush. She was shaking it as Katelyn, "you gross, sick pervert! So gross! This is my hairbrush! How could you?!?"

Katelyn, still drowsy, was only momentarily confused but soon remembered. She had taken an online dare to find something of her roommate's and masturbate with it. The photos she posted online were only from the waist down but, of course, following the links would have made it clear the anonymous account was hers. God, how many clicks did it take for Eliza to find that one? "I'm so sorry," Katelyn whimpers feeling mortified, "I cleaned it. I swear. It was scrubbed with soap." It wasn't. Part of the dare was to put it back unwashed. That was part of the thrill.

"How many more of my things have you used you...you...you dirty bitch?"

"None! It was a one-time thing," Katelyn says even though it wasn't. When the tension started to rise between the two roommates Katelyn saw using things from Eliza's room as a way to secretly get back at her. She'd masturbated with Eliza's curling iron, her clarinet, her childhood teddy bear, her high school cheerleading trophy, and the vibrator Eliza kept under the mattress. Thankfully, it seemed that Eliza hadn't discovered those photos online...yet.

"End of the week. I want you out," the roommate said to Katelyn. "I can't trust you anymore." she turns to walk out but at the last minute chucks the hairbrush across the room so it hits the wall near Katelyn's head. "And you can have that! GROSS!"

As soon as the door slams Katelyn breaks down sobbing. She tries to contain her tears but she can't. All she can think about the fact that her urges have, once again, ruined her life. And now she's going to be homeless at the end of the week. Lying face down she pushes her face into the pillow. Tears soaking it. Her brain spinning as she's run out of ideas on how to get out of this situation. Drowning.

And that's when her phone starts to vibrate.

She grabs the phone and looks at the number: UNLISTED.

Katelyn sighs. The last thing she needs is a robocall but for some reason, she feels compelled to answer anyway.

"Hello," she says weakly and with a sniffle.

"Test Subject," a nearly robotic voice says, "The Facility has completed your data evaluation. You have been registered as 'HIGH VALUE.' You have 60 seconds to prepare to write down the location and time of your Immersion. The message will repeat twice."

"What?" Katelyn says still in shock from Eliza storming into her room. The words sink in "write down an address." Katelyn, the phone still to her ear with one hand, reaches from the bed to her desk and grabs a notepad and a pen.

The voice returns: "365 Oakwood Street. 3:30 a.m. Door 6. Code: 3917530016. Proceed down the hall to door 6C. Answer the question on the monitor to enter. Sit in the chair. Wait for further instructions. Do not bring anything with you except this phone. Do not share this location with anyone. Do not be late. Do not be late. The code will only work for two minutes before and after your arrival time. *pause* 365 Oakwood Street. 3:30 a.m. Door 6. Code: 3917530016. Proceed down the hall to door 6C. Answer the question on the monitor to enter. Sit in the chair. Wait for further instructions. Do not bring anything with you except this phone. Do not share this location with anyone. Do not be late. The code will only work for two minutes before and after your arrival time. *pause* 365 Oakwood Street. 3:30 a.m. Door 6. Code: 3917530016. Proceed down the hall to door 6C. Answer the question on the monitor to enter. Sit in the chair. Wait for further instructions. Do not bring anything with you except this phone. Do not share this location with anyone. Do not be late. The code will only work for two minutes before and after your arrival time. You are expected."

There's a -click- as Katelyn scrambles to write down the door code. "What the fuck?" she says to the dead phone line. "Is this right? Ugh!" She googles the address and she can tell it's in the warehouse district side of town. She zooms in and the building is massive and all white with several doors but no windows. "Creepy," she says to herself. Google doesn't show any information as to what businesses are located at the address. Continuing to google the address plus "Facility" doesn't bring up anything. "Double creepy," she says.

She shakes her head as she repeats the instructions to herself. "3:30 a.m. and bring nothing? Only my phone? This seems like a very bad idea. " Katelyn clutches herself tightly. Going to the warehouse district, not telling anyone where she is going, visiting a location that doesn't even show up in a google search...Ms. Stanley wouldn't put her in a dangerous situation on purpose. She was a respected Vice President of a multinational company. Katelyn reminds herself that it's likely only some sort of game. She sets herself for 2 a.m. which would give her enough time to do her hair, makeup, get dressed, and drive across town. Somehow, in spite of the frustrations of the day and the anticipation of following the phone's instructions she manages to get to sleep.

When her phone goes off three hours later, Katelyn is groggy. Her first instinct is to shut it off and go back to sleep. Playing this game is a dumb idea. But she sees Eliza's brush on the bed next to her and it punctuates the awfulness of the day. She doesn't have anything to lose, does she?