Requested by Beebop775
Blake's break up had hit him hard. It was not the first time he had been dumped, but it was definitely the worse. He and his ex seemed to get along great. At least, he thought they did, but after the break up he began to see all of the cracks in their relationship that he had intentionally and unintentionally ignored for so long.
For him, it had been sudden. For his ex, it had been long coming, and it had involved many warnings. It hurt Blake to admit it, but looking back on their relationship, he knew that they weren't good for each other. They were happy enough together, though they were certainly not always happy. More than that, they just simply didn't agree on very many things. They had fun together, but they were never building a life together.
His ex had gained weight with him, and he had gained weight, too. They never had sex, and he had thought that they were comfortable. In reality, they were in a rut. He could admit it now that the relationship was over, but at the time it was too hard to confess to himself. When they broke up, he was between jobs and home alone all day lamenting his failures both private and public.
He ended up living with his best friend from college and his girlfriend, Ruby. Ruby was a pretty girl with red hair and sapphire blue eyes. She had a big, broad smile and strong shoulders, and her work as a theater tech kept her fit and toned. Despite her lean, powerful body, she has surprisingly large breasts and a nice, firm butt that Blake had always secretly admired, especially as his own girlfriend had put on so much weight.
His best friend, Andrew, was good looking and friendly, though he was by no means a stud of any sort. He had thinning blond hair and caramel colored eyes, and he always wore a ready smile. He and Ruby were good together and had met in the theater program in college. They were the first two people to learn about Blake's break up, and he did not have to work hard to convince Ruby to welcome Blake into their home.
Andrew and Blake had grown apart while Blake was dating his ex. It was not a dramatic falling out but a quiet disappearance as Blake's depression had slowly sapped every part of his life from him. It really surprised him how oblivious he was at how unhappy he was, and he told himself that the lie of happiness was too intoxicating for him to acknowledge even though it was very likely slowly killing him.
Ruby and Blake, on the other hand, barely knew each other. The entire time Andrew had been dating Ruby, Blake had known her only as his current girlfriend. Andrew was not prolific in dating, but he could be needy and demanding. Honestly, Blake had thought Ruby and Andrew would break up long before he and his ex did and felt foolish for assuming so. Ruby was kind and welcoming, but she always kept her distance. It was clear to him that he was only Andrew's friend to her, and that made him feel unwelcome in their home sometimes.
Blake didn't intend to stay long at their house, but he found old habits were dying very hard. The first week, he had gotten out and exercised as much as he could. He spent hours looking for jobs and promised them to be out within a week, and then a month and then six months. It was nearly year now, and every attempt had ended in desperate, hopeless failure.
It was not that Blake had given up but that Blake had lost hope. He didn't believe in himself enough to try at anything, and the more he doubted himself, the deeper his depression got. He felt like an absolute fool, and he hated himself for ever believing that anything could go well for him at all. Eventually, it became worse than doubt and even worse than depression. After a certain point, the only reason he didn't kill himself was because he didn't think that his death was worth the time it would take to clean him up.
That was when he found the app.
Blake did not believe it at first. The Dominion App said that it could take anyone who saw it and make them your slave. He doubted the truth of it because the truth was too good, but that also made it too good to simply ignore. He tried to, but his mind kept on coming back to it. For a week straight, he would check his phone and see if it was still there. He would wait for someone to review it but no one ever did. Eventually, he googled the app, but he found nothing. There was no information on it. It felt almost like it was something exclusively for him.
Two weeks later, he downloaded it. He did not know what he was going to do with it. All he knew was that he was desperate, and he was lonely, and that deep down in the center of himself, he didn't want to live like this. Something in his life had to change, and he figured that this might be the change he needed.
The download was instantaneous, and then it did nothing. He opened it, and it would only pull up a single screen. It was a static image of an eye. The eye was archaic and almost runic in design, and when he stared at it, the eye did nothing. It didn't blink. It didn't move. It didn't change him or anything around him. The app was nothing but a dud, so he closed it, and he tossed his phone away, and he slept.
Another full week passed before there was a knock at his door. Blake had to wade through boxes of takeout and trash to make it to the door, and when he opened the door, he found Andrew waiting outside. Andrew grimaced when he saw Blake unshaven and stinking. He nearly wretched when he saw Blake's bedroom. "Hey, uh, Blake, you got a minute? We need to talk."
Blake nodded and shuffled his way through the trash to hold the door open for Andrew. Andrew entered reluctantly and covered his nose.
"Ruby and I have been talking and, well, we're thinking about moving out soon," he said. "Our lease is up in a few months, and we're talking marriage." Andrew had been staring around the room up to this point, but he took the chance to look Blake in his sunken, sleepless eyes. "Listen, man, I love you like a brother, but you've got to get out of this funk. I've tried to support you for as long as I can but...I'm sorry. We can't keep supporting you like this."
"I understand," said Blake, and he did. After all, he wouldn't even invest in himself. He couldn't reasonable expect them to invest in him. He stared at his dirty floor and felt like the insect that he was. Then, he remembered the app. "Did Ruby put you up to this," he asked.
"It was a mutual decision," said Andrew, but Blake could tell what he meant when he said it. What Andrew meant was that Ruby had made it a demand, and Andrew had not argued it at all.
"I understand," said Blake, and he did understand. He couldn't fathom why either of them would put up with him when he couldn't even seem to find a reason to put up with himself.
"I'm sorry, man."
"Don't worry about it," said Blake, and he stood clutching the door and waiting for Andrew to leave. When Andrew left, Blake closed and locked the door after him, and then he sat down heavily on his bed and stared at his phone and thought hard about what he was going to do.
A few days later, Blake had no more ideas, but he did know that he couldn't make it on his own. He kept looking at the Dominion App, and he kept hoping something would change about it. It was impossible, but it was his only hope. One day, while he was getting his lunch, he left the phone out there on accident while Ruby was in the shower, and it wasn't until after he had finished eating that he remembered it and went out to get it.
Ruby had finished her shower, and Blake found her standing and staring at his phone. She had a towel wrapped around her body and a blank expression on her voice. Her red hair was tied up in another towel, and she was speechless and dumb as she looked at his phone. "Ruby?"
She shook her head and looked at him. "Blake?!" She blushed and adjusted her towel. "What are you doing out here?"
"I was getting my phone," he said, and she glanced at the counter where he pointed.
"Oh." She stepped to the side. "Sorry. I should get to my room."
Blake approached his phone slowly as Ruby left the room. He heard her slam the door beside him but didn't even flinch. When he picked up his phone, he noticed a change on it. The static image of the eye was unchanged, but beneath it he noticed a roman numeral was added. There was now a I there. "One," he whispered to himself, and he looked at Ruby's door.
