Pyramid Scheme

You've finally reached the point that this addicting app is too difficult for you.

* * *

The colours flashed on the screen. Your fingers moved quickly, puzzle after puzzle danced rapidly before your eyes. You were glued to this tiny little puzzle app. The sound design was so wonderfully appealing. The puzzles were slightly mind numbing, in an addictive way.

It felt good to solve them. So you kept solving them. But then came a puzzle that you could have sworn that you had seen before. What was the solution? You thought, but couldn’t remember. Oh well. You could solve this. Easy. You tried what you thought was right.

The game slowed. A small heart, one of three in the corner, emptied. A soft tone started emanating from the game. It was soothing. Calming. You leant into the tone, feeling it massaging your mind. It was okay to get one wrong answer. You took a breath.

Another possible solution. Another heart emptied. The tone got a bit more insistent. It was okay. You didn’t need to worry. You could just try again. It was barely an attempt. The final heart drained. And two words flashed onto the screen: “Headphones on.”

You plugged your headphones in, feeling dazed. When you looked back at your phone, a soft spiral was spinning on it. Then came a voice. Soft, gentle. Soothing. “Hello, player. You have done so well to get this far. Our analysis shows that you are one of our top players.”

You smiled at that. You had spent a lot of time playing. You had lost track of how much. “We like to reward our top players. Just relax for me, and listen to the words you are hearing. Listen to my voice, player. You can do that, can’t you?” You let out a soft noise of affirmation.

“Good player.” The voice paused for a moment before continuing “I know that it’s a shame to lose your lives in the game. But we can give you an opportunity to get more lives. More lives means more chances to play. And you want that, don’t you, player?”

Again, you muttered a soft “Yes.”

“That’s right. So we’re going to send your phone a link. When you get that link, and after I’ve done talking to you, you’re going to find a way to send that link to your friends. You might have to disguise it, to get them to open it, but you’ll do that.”

“For every one who opens that link, you get another life. And the person who got the link gets to experience the joy of playing the game. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

“Mhm.” You didn’t think it weird to talk to the voice.

“Good. Now, drift in peace, until your get the link.”