“Good morning, Ed. The next file will be in shortly, are you ready to start your day?” The room brightened up as the screen turned on, signalling the start of a new day.

Opening his eyes, Ed stared at the screen for a while, lost in thought. Yesterday was tough, but I’m going to have to struggle through this for a while until I can freely move. At least I was able to get some information from Buddie yesterday. I get one meal a day. It isn’t a lot, but I might be able to get bigger portion sizes out of it, that might be my only way to increase my intake. I also have plenty of time that I can spend freely, there’s just not much I can do at the moment. I should use it to see what I can create right now; hopefully I'll be able to make some traps that are more manageable. Snapping out of his thoughts he responded “I think I am.”

“Good. Now that you are ready, read the file.” As usual, the file opened on the screen.

Name: Anthony Turner

Age: 26

Occupation: Electrician

Biography: Born to parents Howard and Julia Turner, Anthony grew up in a working-class home. At age 5 his parents divorced, and he was raised in joint custody between both parents... At the age of 16 he dropped out of high school and got an apprenticeship as an electrician... at 22 he started dating Jessica Florette and at 24 they got married. One night at the bar after having a few too many drinks, he went home with another woman. They began meeting regularly behind his wife’s back for an entire year... A few months ago, he broke the relationship off because his wife almost caught them together, however recently he has proven himself to be unfaithful once again.

-End of document-

Anthony cheated on his wife, and it wasn’t a one-time thing. This became a regular part of his life. I can see why Buddie has a file for him. Now I just need to think about something for the trap. I can’t make the same mistake as last time and have it be too bloody or gory. I didn’t know that Buddie would force me to watch, but now that I do, I’m not going to put myself through that again. I need something easy for him to escape from, but not too easy that Buddie will deny it. So, it needs to have a reasonable chance of death, but not be too difficult. I also need to take into account his emotions when he wakes up.

“It is time to start designing, have you thought of a plan yet?” Buddie’s question woke Ed up from his thoughts. Tapping his fingers on the desk, he nodded before opening the construction app.

* Create a room

* Design a trap

“I might have the beginnings of a plan, but I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do. Let’s design the trap first.”

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Opening up the design a trap function, Ed paused for a moment. I don’t know if my idea is going to work, I don’t have enough knowledge about this two be able to design something that threads the needle between danger and safety. “Create a model of Anthony for me.” Watching the man appear on the screen with interest, he made note of the fact that there was no wedding ring on his finger. “Buddie, shouldn’t the model have a wedding ring?”

“This is his regular attire when he goes out to bars. I thought that this would be the most suitable appearance for him to have.”

Nodding his head, he turned to study the rest of the model. In decent shape, he’s wearing a high-vis jacket, so he probably comes to the bar right after work. Other than that, he’s decently attractive so I can see how he’s managed to get multiple girls to sleep with him. It’s definitely not right, but this should be between him and his wife. “Wrap the fingers on his right hand with steel wires and connect them up to a series of gears. I want his hand to be trapped, requiring a code to release it.” That should be good for now.

Opening the create a room function, it once again showed an empty space. “I want the same room as before, minus the items on the floor. Place a table in the centre of the room.” The same room as before appeared on the screen, this time with a metal table in the middle. “Create a glass box with a hole on one side. On the other side of the box place his wedding ring.” Watching the glass box appear, he noted that it could be broken. Maybe I can get away with this. “Connect his ring to the mechanism for his right hand. have it that as he pulls the ring towards himself it activates the gears causing his fingers to break one by one until he fully pulls the ring out. On the inside of the ring will be the code to release his right hand.” Hopefully this should be enough to get past Buddie. He’ll have to break his fingers, but he should be able to get through it.

“While painful, broken fingers have a rather low risk of death. The cause of death comes from potential infections in the bones as a result of them making contact with the outside environment.”

Damn, I need to change something. “Okay, have it that if he drops the ring, it will fall too far for him to be able to pick it back up. That way it becomes a test of his will and commitment to mending his relationship.”

“I can accept that. You have done a good job at explaining yourself during the design process this time. If you are satisfied with it, I can get to work immediately.”

Taking a deep breath in, he nodded. I’ve done everything I can, now I need to focus on myself.

“Now that you have submitted your project, it is time for your meal, what would you like to eat?”

How much should I ask for? I don’t want to go too far since I have nowhere to store it. “Can I have a large pepperoni pizza and a 2-litre bottle of water?”

“Of course.” a fresh pizza appeared on the table with a jug of water. Gulping some of the water down, he made sure to save some for later. Now no longer worried for his next meal, Ed took his time to enjoy the pizza.

He sunk deep into his thoughts as he waited for the trap to be ready.