She gets straight to the crux of the matter.

Lisa was desperately trying to process the events when a middle-aged man tapped Jonny on the shoulder and told him that their food was ready.

"I know it's a lot to take in," Jonny said. "But you should at least come get lunch. You'll be glad you did."

They re-entered the now-empty diner, where their meals were laid out at the same booth they'd been sitting at earlier. They sat down and Lisa picked distractedly at her fries while Jonny took a sip of wine. After a few moments, she spoke.

"I'm going to assume for the sake of argument that everything you've told me is true. I still think it's an elaborate hoax, but stubborn skepticism won't bring me any closer to understanding what's really going on. So, if what you say is true, there's one immediately obvious question."

Jonny was impressed at her ability to analyze an impossible situation. "Why haven't I converted you?"

She grimaced. "Converted? If you want to convince people you're not a cult, I'd drop that term immediately. But yes, I've noticed that you've been very scrupulous about making no actual contact with me. Why do all of this to convince me when you could just touch my hand?"

Jonny smiled. "I think you already know."

"I don't know anything, but I've got a guess. Is it the thrill of the chase? You want to try to seduce me without turning me into a ****? Is that it?"

For the first time that day, Jonny looked taken aback. "...what? No, of course not! The opposite, really. I need a moral compass. Someone who can tell me no."

Lisa rolled her eyes at that. "So a town full of mindless slaves isn't enough for you. You want a mindful **** as well."

To her surprise, Jonny actually smiled. "That's exactly why I want an outside party around. You're the only one here that would ever use the word '****'. That's why I'd like you to talk to some of the folks around town and get their opinions. Yes, yes, they're all tainted by my ability to sway them, but I'm telling them to be totally honest with you."

"Didn't you say that they do what's best for you? Regardless of what you say you want, there's no way admitting that they're miserable would be in your best interest."

"Good observation," Jonny said. He seemed to be actually impressed. "That's another reason I need you. I've never been very good at detecting bullshit, but I get the impression you genuinely are. As a gesture of good faith, I'm prepared to make what I think is a very generous offer."

Lisa started to spit out a witty retort, but thought better of it. What Jonny said next would be crucial in her judgment of his character. She nodded and he

"First, no matter what happens, you walk away with your priorities intact. This is involuntary, and if I had a choice I never would have **** it on anyone. Right now you can get up, walk away, and never see me or speak to me again."

"And if I report it?" Lisa asked. "What if I blow your whole cult wide open?"

"I'm sure you've considered the ramifications of that. You're not the first person to get a whiff of what's going on here, you know. In fact, one of the folks I'd really like you to speak to once made a similar threat. Remember, I've got invisible eyes and ears everywhere. If I get word that you're trying to expose me, I'll sabotage it."

"Not 'convert' me?"

He grimaced. "If it comes to that, yes. But I really, really want to avoid that if I can. Here's the real offer, though. Give me six months. You can keep doing your podcast - in fact, I've had my crew doing a lot of research for new episodes and follow-ups. You'd be amazed what a diverse group of driven, intelligent people can find. Remember that little town in east Louisiana with the startlingly low poverty rate? We did some chemical analysis on the groundwater there and found some really interesting data."

Lisa remained stone-faced, but the offer was tempting. "Ok. What else do I do for these six months? Do I have to follow you around like a servant or something?"

"Hardly! It's up to you. You can avoid me the entire time and never speak a word to me again. My only request is that you move here and live among us."

Lisa's eyes narrowed. "What's the point of that? You're offering a lot and asking very little."

Jonny spread is palms in a gesture of innocent benevolence. "I have a lot to offer and some very specific requests. My real hope is that you'll see the problems that the rest of the town is blind to. I really do cherish these people, and I know they can never truly bring their problems to me. I want you to be my objective eyes and ears on the ground."

"And after six months, I just walk away?" Lisa asked skeptically.

"If that's what you want. I'm hoping you can find a niche here for yourself. It sounds like a bad sci-fi dystopia, but it's really not that different from other towns. But yes, if after six months you want to leave, that'll be no problem for us. But we're getting ahead of ourselves; there's more to the offer."

"First, everything is free here. Not just for me or you, but for everyone. We keep price tags and charge outsiders to maintain the fiction, and of course the comptroller and all of the local business owners submit plausible tax records, but no one really pays for anything within the town limits anymore. The same goes for the facilities. I recommend Jan Morton's spa; her massages are out of this world and the hot tub is incredible. All of our shops and restaurants are completely free; you can pick out some wonderful antiques to take home when you're done.

"Second, everyone here will be friendly and helpful. Not in some servile, doting way; just ordinary kindness. You won't be harassed, or catcalled, or even frowned at on the street. Believe it or not, I think you'll come to make some real friends. These aren't mindless slaves, Lisa. They're just people.

"Finally, I mentioned help with your podcast. I've got a world-class recording studio and a top-notch team of researchers, sound engineers, editors-"

"Oh my God," she interrupted with a horrified look. "Did you go out and enslave a bunch of people for me?"

Jonny smiled and shook his head. "Another great example of the kind of question I want you to ask. No, there were several people in town who already had some experience. I had them construct a top-notch recording studio and had some of our underemployed community members take online courses to fill out the crew. Oh, that's another thing - no homelessness or poverty! The unhoused are now housed and taken care of just like everyone else."

"So it's communism?" she asked.

"I've thought a lot about that question," Jonny said seriously. "I think it's a sort of communism, but not like any we've seen before. I didn't really even intend for it to end up like this! I didn't want anyone to be homeless, so homeless people were given empty apartments until they could get back on their feet. I didn't mandate that stores stop charging; they just all began to once everyone realized that charging money did nothing to further my wellbeing. To the outside world, we all have individual bank accounts and finances, but really the town functions as one individual economic unit."

"All dedicated to you," she said drily. Jonny gestured to the diner and the street outside.

"Do you see my name on anything here? I'll tell you a story. A few months ago, a janitor named Drew decided he wanted a piano. He had taken lessons as a kid, but when his father passed before he got junior high his mother had to sell the piano to make ends meet. His life never recovered after that; he lived in poverty with his mother and two sisters until he graduated. His grades suffered, so he never made it to college, and ended up spending two decades doing low-paid menial labor. Now, all he needed was a sizable bonus that just happened to be the exact cost of a piano plus tax and moving fees, which his boss gladly gave him."

"But he's still a janitor," she objected.

"Because he doesn't mind being a janitor," Jonny said. "He's as well-renumerated as a neurosurgeon, and he's good at his job. His dream job is to be a professional musician, and now that dream is within reach. He's played some tunes for me and he's gotten really good. Our town is full of stories like that. And I didn't set any of this up myself, either. I just want everyone to be fulfilled and taken care of and they made it happen."

Lisa sat back, her head spinning. She knew that she shouldn't trust this strange cult leader, but she also knew that if she walked away from this, she would regret not learning more for the rest of her life. Jonny sat back, his face grave, and let her deliberate. After a few silent minutes, she leaned forward.

"Ok," Lisa said. "I'm in."