Ellie was an LPN, studying for her RN. That meant classes in the morning, fitful sleep in the afternoon, and a full shift of work at the nursing home five nights a week. It was grueling. She was always rushed and she was always tired. Right now she home, but not for long. She had her uniform on, and as soon as she wolfed down a baloney sandwich she had to leave for work.
The young nurse hadn’t checked her e-mail in days. She sat down at the computer to do that while she ate.
There was a message from her mom, which she read quickly and left to respond to later. There were three messages that were obviously spam, as well. She deleted two of them, for penis enlargement and a new home mortgage. The other one caught her eye.
--CONGRATULATIONS ELLIE! YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED…--
That was all the subject line showed.
Ellie still hadn’t finished her sandwich, so she opened the message just for something to do. She was amazed at how these spammers could get her name.
The mail message contained nothing but the same words as the subject line. But the words were underlined, and highlighted. It was a link to a web site.
Ellie knew better. She really did. Still, just to kill the last few moments before she had to rush out the door…
The moment she clicked the link, Ellie’s computer monitor went blank. It seemed almost as if the thing had shut down. She waited it out, however, and was rewarded when a small red dot appeared near the center of the screen.
While Ellie watched, the dot moved slowly down to the bottom of the screen. Then it jumped to the top and danced around. Then over to the left. What’s the point, she wondered, following the little spot of light as it as it swooped and jerked, seemingly at random.
The dot was expanding, as well. Getting bigger. Ellie had the illusion she was being drawn closer…closer…
The ball expanded to fill the screen. Ellie‘s head was spinning and she felt drowsy. She had been swallowed up, and could see nothing now but red.
The young nurse dropped her sandwich on the floor. She forgot about going to work.
Now the image on the screen changed, presenting Ellie with the full text of the message she had initially read, in cool blue letters floating on her screen…
--CONGRATULATIONS ELLIE! YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED BY COMPURAPE…--
It was some sort of disgusting porn thing. Ellie would ordinarily close it in an instant. Oddly, though, she did not move. She seemed unable to will herself to do anything but stare at the screen and absorb whatever was presented. She gulped, feeling an undercurrent of fear. What was happening to her?