A Name, Your Price.

The webpage was dominated by a single line of text.

“The stream will begin in 28 seconds.”

As the countdown ticked away, the comments in the chat were rolling in at a frantic pace.

“It’s a prank!”

“Clickbait!”

“First!!!1”

“What should she do?”

“It’s 3 a.m. for me. I can’t sleep until I see what happens!”

The static screen displayed links to the streamers social media pages. It was through these channels that she had teased the topic of her next livestream. Only five hours earlier, she posted a photo of an impressive stack of cash. Resting on top of it all was a little black book, evidently unused by its pristine appearance. The only explanation offered was the accompanying caption.

“$20,000 cold hard cash! All I have to do is put a name in this book! Thoughts?”

Her 1.5 million followers had answered her call, with the debate in the comments section still raging.

“The stream will begin in 3 seconds. 2… 1…”

“Hey guys! Welcome back. Oh my God! Look at the comments! You guys are going crazy!”

Her viewer count was shooting into the high tens of thousands.

“Everyone, tell your friends. Tell your family. Let’s get this stream into the top trending spot.” she said, her excitement squeezing her voice into a squeal. Instantly, her chat was filled with the custom emoticons and inside references that were the common language of her most ardent fans. “For all the haters out there, saying this is fake or a troll. Look at this,” she said, as she tilted her camera to capture the pile of money on her desk. “Twenty grand! Twenty thousand bucks. Or about four thousand bubble teas. Am I right, Fam?”

The chat responded with a blur of text that scrolled past at an illegible rate.

“So let me explain. I was just outside my house today when this man in a gorgeous suit came up to me. First of all, you know I love you guys. You’re all my family. But that is not cool. Don’t try to find my home. Like seriously, I was about to call the cops on this guy.

The chat flashed red as countless love hearts flooded in.

“But then, he called me by my real name. And my fans don’t normally do that. So I guess he must be a sponsor or something, because that is when he showed me all this cash. And he said all I have to do is put a name in the book.” She held up the little black book, displaying front and back of the entirely nondescript item.

“And, not gonna lie, I didn’t really ask him any questions. I was just thinking about the cash. Am I right? Can I get some CREAM up in this chat!” she asked, whipping up her followers to keep the viewer engagement high.

The chat obeyed.

“C.R.E.A.M.”

“Cash Rules Everything Around Me babyyyy!”

“I’m vegan. Can you please use a less offensive term?”

“CREAM all day long!”

“So of course I agreed to the terms, which he specifically made me do. He was so weird. Like a lawyer or something. Oh, any of my lawyers out there. Hit me up, I need some free advice. Is this legit? Should I be worried?”

“It’s cool babe. You deserve it.”

“Keep it!”

“Nooooo. Go to the police.”

“I love you!”

“It’s totally sus. No way that dude was legit.”

“You know what. Let’s start a poll. Everyone vote guys! This is super important. Should I keep it, or return it. Not gonna lie, I’ve already spent like half of it, LOL. YOLO!”

She posted the poll and the first ten thousand votes were overwhelmingly in favour of keeping the money.

“Oh my God. I love you guys. I agree, but, like, you totally read my mind this time. Let’s take a look at some of your Uber-chats. Let’s see. Bitz_and_Pizzas, thanks for the $10 donation. You asked, ‘What type of name did he ask for? Could it also be any common noun?’” She paused to give the camera a quizzical look. “OK nerd. He just said a name. A name is a name. Like I’m pretty dumb sometimes, but this is obvious. Right? Oh, do I need a first and last name?”

As she glanced at the chat, she noticed a phrase being spammed by everyone.

“Person, Place or Thing.”

“What are you guys talking about? Oh no. You mean maybe I could put, like, a city name or a food name?”

“Exactly!”

“LooooL.”

“OMG so cute.”

“Another dumb blonde like meee! You go sister!”

“Oh my God, guys. What if I put in a brand name. Then I can get them as sponsors for more free stuff. I feel like a Kardashian!”

“That’s fire!”

“2000 I.Q.”

“Marry Me”

“The next Uber-chat comes from Awesombrero. Great name. Thanks for the $5. You say, ‘What if something bad happens to the person with their name in the book?’ Hmm, you mean like if it’s a Voodoo book or something? That’s a good point. Maybe I should put in the name of someone I don’t like. Ahh, but then if something good happens to the person I should put in someone I like! Nooo! Now I’m getting a headache thinking about it. What should I do chat?”

“Definitely bad. Use your worst enemy.”

“Nothing is going to happen.”

“Fake! This is so lame.”

“My Mum says Magic is evil. I will say a prayer for you.”

“Guys! You’re not helping! Sub_Optimus_Prime, thank you for the $20. ‘The man who gave you 20k to write a name in a book. How will he know when you’ve done it? Will he come back for the book?’ I didn’t even think about that. I wish I had you guys with me back then. I didn’t ask him any of these questions. Do you think he might come back? I’m actually scared now. He knows where I live!”

“Call the police!”

“This is getting interesting.”

“Post your address. You will have an Army to defend you.”

“Who takes that much money from a stranger without asking any questions?!”

“Wow, 42000 votes in the poll. Keep sharing guys. But what happened. Now 79% of you are saying don’t keep the money. I already spent some of it! Game_of_Moans, thank you so much for the $100 donation. ‘Tell us how much you spent. We will send it to you. Just give that money back before it’s too late. What if it’s like the Mafia or something. They pay you 20k to do a fake job, now they own you. It’s not worth it!’ Guys, he is right. I’m freaking out right now. What should I do? Share this with your friends and family. I need as many people thinking about this as possible. We are so close to being the most viewed stream right now!”

“Don’t panic. It’s not too late.”

“It’s too late.”

“You took the money. It’s game over.”

“I’ll protect you. I live at 14****** *****.”

“Omicron_Persei_Kate, thank you for the 8-month subscription. Welcome to the Family. You say, ‘Show us the book. Is there anything weird about it? Any other names already there?’ No, it’s totally blank, like new.”

She held the little black book up for inspection. The cover revealed no clues, and a quick riffle through the pages was unhelpful. With her hands outstretched, a fine tremor became apparent.

“Oh my God, guys I’m literally shaking right now. And look, 100k responses on my poll. You all want me to give it back. I can’t guys. It’s too late for that. I am going to change this poll. Comment with your suggestions and up-vote the ones you like. I will consider the ideas with the most votes. Don’t forget to turn on notifications too.

“You can do this.”

“We love you, don’t give up hope.”

“I love your hair. Can you do a beauty tutorial?”

“Never waste a crisis. So shameless. Unsubscribed!”

Michael_E_Mouselton, with a $10 donation, ‘He knows you’re a streamer. If you write in a name on stream, he will hear about it.’ Of course! You are a genius. I would kiss you if you were here. Why am I panicking? I just need to pick a name. Señor_Rita, thanks for the donation. You ask, ‘Do you think he wants you to show everyone the name? What if it should be a secret. Maybe you shouldn’t be sharing this with millions of people.’ Well obviously I’m going to stream this. This is amazing content. I am trending like crazy right now. But maybe I can hide my final choice.

“No, you can’t do that to us.”

“I’m literally dying to know what you do.”

“It’s so obvious what she will do. I already know.”

“Like free HD Movies? Go to **********.com”

“Can I borrow some money?”

“Sorry guys, I’m trying to get to all of your Uber-chats. The next one, wait a minute. You donated $0.00. Can I get a moderator to ban this guy. I hate hackers. His name is.” She paused as her voice trailed off. The username was Belleview Heights. Where she lived.

She read his message in a timid voice. “‘Write a name in the book. Your time is running out.’ Oh my God. It’s him. He must have given me a time limit. I had no idea. What should I do? I’m freaking out.

“Poll.”

“pollll”

“Pool.”

“Read the poll.”

“Ok, let’s see. The top voted comment is, ‘Booky McBookface.’ And second is just, ‘Your Mum.’ Guys come on. This is serious.” She continued to scroll through the suggestions until she found an option she liked. “Ok, I know what to do. This is my choice, and at the end of the day, whatever happens is on me. If it turns out bad, I hope you can all forgive me and continue to support this channel.”

She opened up the little black book and selected a pen from her desk.

“What is she gonna do?”

“Maybe the name she writes will be the next person to get the book in an endless chain!”

“We all know her favourite name is her own.”

“Just write the words ‘A Name’. Can’t go wrong!”

She smoothed down the page and put her pen to paper. A moment later, it was done.

“There. My name,” she said, holding up the page for all to see. In the top corner of the screen, the viewer count took a sudden drop. 15% had logged off, seemingly disappointed with the predictable outcome.

“Oh. This is weird. I feel weird,” she said, feigning some vague symptoms. “I think something is happening to me. Comment below, what you think is going to happen to me.”

Then something actually did happen. She appeared to freeze, not even moving to breathe, before collapsing out of view.

To the shock of her onlookers, a mysterious figure in a fine Italian suit emerged from the darkness. With his head out of frame, he collected the little black book, but not the cash, before exiting to the left of screen.

A tsunami of her viewers, cut adrift by the abrupt ending, migrated to her other pages. Every one of them appearing to have a different take on what had happened.

“Brilliant. She just gained half a million new followers.”

“I wonder if her stalker and mine are friends.”

“Did she just get abducted!”

“I hope nothing bad happened. I’m totally creeped out.”

“What would you have written?”