"You've been selected. Call 555 Truth Today!"

That is what the post it note had read. Sonya read the note over and over, a primal fear rising physically through her body like a hotflash staring in the toes and exiting through the scalp. Her mind had already made the assumption, but another part of her absolutely refused to beleive it could actually happen to her. She was trying to rationalize it any way she could. 'Its a friend playing a prank, it's some kind of sick joke, I must be on a gameshow right now, where are the cameras?' But Sonya kept hyper focused on the note freshly slapped to the wall outside her bedroom. It was writen in neat red ink... the phone number underlined. Deep down she knew... when these people called, you could not refuse. After all, they had broken into her apartment without as much as a fingerprint left behind, only to deliver this simple forboding message. . .

There was a lot of speculation about 'the truth' these days. Sonya knew she was working right within the heart of the matter, a journalist for an independant local station. This gave her freedoms most reporters did not have to answer to... Allowed her to tell the news story as it happened rather than who it concerned. But Sonya knew in her tenure that the 'news' was never just what happened. Gossip was almost always stretched, or even worse: buried. And of course you had the exactly two major outlets, with exactly two opposing viewpoints that controlled 95% of everyones attention. They owned hundreds of smaller outlets whom they told what to say when the cameras were off and the contracts were signed.

It was all just control games, Sonya thought. She had spent most of her life analyzing the facts, writing the stories. But now... now things just got a lot more serious.

'Truth' was a code word for one of the two major media outlets in the world. The kind of entity that had an unmeasurable net worth and a chokehold over the mood of society. On the inside of the buisness, Sonya had seen this exact wording used in buisness oppurtunity pamphlets. . . but she knew that a company this large could source their own employees. Rumors about them were floating around for decades... That they blackmailed employees into slave labor. Sonya was inclined to beleive. After all, whoever left the note came and left without a trace and didnt trip the alarm.

The media outlet was known as WZBX. They were a global production that favored one side of the story and always tried to paint the government figures who held their narrative in a positive light. Of course their competitor did the same thing for their side. Sonya learned most people have a hard time admitting it, but they like to be told what to think... WZBX figured that out for sure. They figured out just how easy it was to point people towards a narrative when their ideals lined up.

Sonya picked up her phone and dialed the number. Her hands were shaking. She wasnt sure what to expect but she knew that assasinating people was not beneath WZBX.

COMPUTER: Hello! And welcome to the WZBX selection hotline! This call is being monitered for transparency. If you have been selected please press 1. If you are experiencing an issue, please press 2. If you are calling to access your personal account, please press 3. If you would like to speak to a representitive please press 4.

SONYA: Uhh... I was selected.

COMPUTER: Hello! And welcome to the WZBX selection hotline! This call is being monitered for transparency. If you have been selected please press 1. If you are experiencing an issue, please press 2. If you are calling to access your personal account, please press 3. If you would like to speak to a representitive please press 4.

SONYA: 1

COMPUTER: Congradulations! You have been selected to become an integral part of the WZBX team! Please Enter your phone number now. Reminder that failure to do so will result in penalties.

SONYA: What kind of penalties?

COMPUTER: Congradulations! You have been selected to become an integral part of the WZBX team! Please Enter your phone number now. Reminder that failure to do so will result in penalties. If you wish to return to the main menu please press pound now.

SONYA: #

COMPUTER: Hello! And welcome to the WZBX selection hotline! This call is being monitered for transparency. If you have been selected please press 1. If you are experiencing an issue, please press 2. If you are calling to access your personal account, please press 3. If you would like to speak to a representitive please press 4.

SONYA: 4

COMPUTER: Connecting you with the first available selection representitive. Please hold.

(Dialing... Click... Pause)

AGENT: Hi, my name is kelly. How may I assist you today?

SONYA: Yeah, I got a note?

AGENT: Oh yes, just a second... Oh Sonya Cavil, you live at 33 West Bulivard Apartment 315. Journalist for the local Harrisburg Press. Net worth stands at 65,000 credits annually. How can I assist you today, Sonya?

SONYA: Well I got this note and I called... WZBX, I know who you are, but how the hell did you get into my apartment!?

AGENT: That is none of your concern maam. What you want to do is go back to the main menu, press one, and then follow the step by step computer tutorial for your job application.

SONYA: IM NOT TRYING TO GET A FUCKING JOB WITH YOU!

AGENT: Maam, that dosnt matter. You've been selected. Listen, If you dont cooperate here they will get your job to fire you, they will make your apartment kick you out, they will hinder you at every angle and send you to jail on false charges. You are better off accepting this application.

SONYA: Im not going to lie my way through this career! Ill quit before I do that!

AGENT: Suit yourself maam, Im just a call representitive. But they will still come after you if you quit. You will be working for us, or you will have a very hard future.

SONYA: What if I go to your competitor and tell them everything you just told me.

AGENT: . . . Maam. We own both stations.

Sonya suddenly hung up the call. She sunk down to the floor in a grim realization... There was no escaping their game now.